I’m sure you’re getting a bit sick of book lists by now. I will continue in due course, but this blog is going to be a bit of a ramble with books involved somehow.
The heading is promising and I’m going to give one of the good points of working from home. The weather in Melbourne this morning was fantastic. Really good weather for drying washing and as I was hanging some washing on the line I couldn’t help notice the very stiff breeze, the warm sun and the overall clear sky. I took some time out from work and took my doona and some blankets to the laundromat where they have those big washing machines. When they were in the machine and everything was working nicely I walked across the road and checked out the op shop.
The shop had just been renovated and I was keen to see what they done with it. There used to be a room almost full of books and some more books thrown into a couple of wire cages in another room but not everything was new, shiny and smelling a little of paint. One room is now full of kids things: mostly toys and books. The “book” room is now much tidier but it has fewer books and the prices are higher. The back room now has clothing racks and no books, at least they’re no longer in wire baskets getting wrecked.
I got back to the laundromat just in time to put the other blanket in as I had more blankets than large machines available. I then sat down to work on an idea that’s been handed to me on a golden platter. Yes, it’s to do with books and writers but I really shouldn’t give you more than a teaser until we’ve nutted out the details and approached some people about it.
I got home, got everything on the line and decided it’s such a nice day I’m going to enjoy another of the benefits of working from home and open my window. So, I sat at my computer and enjoyed the breeze on my back for a while until I had to close everything up and run off to the op shop.
My stint at the op shop is designed to get me out of the house and have a chance to talk to people. I’m sure people think I’m there in order to get stock, but they’re wrong. My primary motive is to talk to people. Yes, a lot of the time the conversation does come back to books but not always. We did really well today, lots of work to do, lots of people and lots of conversation. I met a couple of new ‘regulars’. One gentleman is very crafty and is looking for black, plastic knitting needles. I didn’t understand what he’s doing with them, but he’s promised to bring a sample in next week for me to look at. I can’t wait, it sounds fabulous. I’ll try to get a photo and actually publish it here if he’ll let me and if I remember the camera.
While this gentleman was promising to bring back a sample next week I was half watching the sky. The window in the op shop faces west and this is where the clouds were coming from and they were getting darker and darker by the second. I apologised for looking rude and looking away all the time and explained about the weather and my doona…remember the doona and blankets? They were still on the line. He understood and left fairly quickly. We closed up at the speed of light or at least as fast as was possible and dashed home. As I was driving home I noticed the first drops of rain. I was in the leading edge of the rain and despite my worry about the doona and blankets I couldn’t help comparing my drive with the flight of some people in some of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. Don’t ask me which book as I’m sure this was described in a couple of them, but they were fleeing the leading edge of thread and my concern about my washing could not compare with their terror but I couldn’t help thinking about it anyway.
In case you were hanging on the edge of your seats wondering about my bed linen…yes, they were wet and as I write this they’re almost dry.
Before I stop rambling I’m just going to take the opportunity to tell you about a very strange moment I had one day. It is on topic as it’s about rain and washing…and books.
We’d filled the washing line with washing one day and then went off to Braeside Park. While we’re there it started raining and I thought very regretfully of my line full of washing. On the drive home I noticed the rain petering out and the closer we got the drier it was until we got home and we found it hadn’t rained yet. The washing was almost dry. I ran out to the line and was frantically bringing it in when I heard this drumming sound on the roof. I was petrified!! Totally petrified. For a brief moment I thought it was thread coming down, not just thought, I was positive. I kept on bringing in the washing thinking how suicidal this was as I would be caught outside and wondering would the house be enough protection as in the Dragonriders of Pern series their buildings were made of stone and set into the sides of cliffs. Finally, after several very long seconds I realised this was the real world and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern was not and thread was anything but real. My heart was still pounding as I ran towards the house away from the first drops of rain…rain, not thread.
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