These are a few of my favorite things.....ever since I was very, very small, I have been into the details. It helps when your earliest visual memories are of European cathedrals and your Daddy patiently (in my memory anyway) answers all of your *was ist DAS, papa?* questions. Arches and spires and vaulted ceilings and thick walls made of stone and doors that are made of glass (sometimes stained in a rainbow of colors)which open OUT onto the garden or the balcony...Someday I am going to build myself a round turret room with a spiral staircase and line the walls with books and window seats to read by the light of the moon. Really, I am. We'll have our Knitblogger meetings there....mark my words. When we returned to America, the lack of interesting architectural detail (sorry, this was california in the 1960's folks, not a gothic cathedral in sight ;) was nearly obliterated by the arrival of a vehicle with magical possibilities....the BOOKMOBILE stopped right at the edge of our driveway. The thought of this still makes me swoon, and probably accounts for my addiction to book of the month clubs...well, that and the fact that camphill is a supported living community much like the one my son lives in.....YES, I am all over the map this morning. YES, there is a good reason. (besides caffeine) Night before last I dreamed of the childhood library....last night I went a little further back and dreamed of the house we lived in on Beechwood Lane. The fig tree, the dichondra lawn, the lanai...oh my. The quintessential California ranch. It is no longer there, the new owners having torn it down and built a mini faux-chateau right to the absolute limits of the property lines (not to mention the boundaries of good taste, but never mind....)what I want to talk about is the BOOKMOBILE. I can still feel the air in there. It quivered with discovery. The door opened like a school bus, on one of those pivoting handles, and the stairs were covered in that rubber industrial treading...and I always said a quick, silent *thank you thank you thank you GOD, wherever you are, for this BOOKMOBILE* before I crossed the threshold. I often hoped I'd get to ride the route in the bookmobile, happily reading the day away on the floor, but alas, no such luck. Do bookmobiles still exist? How much fun would it be to bring them back and be the bookmobile lady in my next life? Knitting at each stop so the children could read as long as they like, and OH the possibilities!
Here's wishing you a day of dreaming about such joy and wonder, it sucks the breath right out of you and makes you SMILE! Namaste.
We always went to the libary downtown rather than getting visited by a bookmobile, but I always loved the concept. Sometimes we rode the bus to the library, which I found thrilling. I still remember where my favorite books were shelved, and waht the place smelled like, even though it's all gone and there's a bigger and brighter one now (oh -- which you've probably visited!). And, hey, we're got some architecture for you here, baby~
Posted by: Maggi | January 29, 2004 at 09:44 AM
OMG~ Bookmobiles, fig trees, turrets! What wonderful images this morning. Was there anything better than a BOOKMOBILE? I loved when it came by my house. What a concept!
And, why pray tell are you living where you do now :) Not as exotic or exciting as where you've been, I'm sure.
Posted by: annie | January 29, 2004 at 10:21 AM
My children go to a very small, rural school.
It's basically a 2 room schoolhouse. There are 45 students total.
They LIVE for the bookmobile visits at school, even though there is a small school library on site. The bookmobile is so much more fun!
The Scholastic company book orders every month are a close runner up!
I'm a 70's California baby, we also had the fig tree and the dichondra lawn in the `burbs!
I haven't seen dichondra in ages.
Hmm... maybe I should plant some for old times sake!
Posted by: Christine | January 29, 2004 at 10:33 AM
Oh yes ...bookmobiles still exist...at leat they do here in Ontario, Canada.
I get pangs of senitimentality every week taking my kids to their karate dojo. The very same bookmobile bus I used 20 yrs ago still stops in the same parking lot which just happens to be right by their dojo.
I used to live for the bookmobile as my parents never had much ineterest in getting me to the library.
Debbie
Posted by: debbie klement | January 29, 2004 at 11:04 AM
You have captured that exact feeling of mine, although we never had a bookmobile, I would feel that way when I went to the library, the bookstore, or my Grandmas garage (no power tools, just bookshelves to the ceiling!)
Posted by: Andy | January 29, 2004 at 12:18 PM
We still have Bookmobiles here in Central Oregon (Bend). Saw it on my way to work yesterday, parked in the lot of one of the bigger day care places. Did my heart good to know that the kids had access to books!
I still love hanging out in the library. Sometimes I forgo eating lunch to go there and browse, or sit and knit! Good times!
Posted by: Sue | January 29, 2004 at 01:36 PM
Fear not, Greta -- the bookmobile lives! You'll be interested in this fabulous project: http://www.mobilivre.org/
Posted by: alison | January 30, 2004 at 03:04 AM
Remember the bookmobile well. Have been to the library two? or three? times this week. Have I ever mentioned that our Small Town librarian knits when it's quiet? Favorite thing about this post? The volume of parenthetical comments. Okay, now who's disjointed? I'm going (back) to bed :)
Posted by: Ann | January 30, 2004 at 05:10 AM
The Boise Bookmobile is alive and well. As a little girl I always enjoyed trips to the library with my grandmother. My boys are less excited about such trips, but I took them anyway. There's just something magical about a library. Whether it be of brick and stone, or of steel.
Thank you for sharing such wonderful memories! xxoo
Posted by: Kim | January 30, 2004 at 07:47 AM
They do indeed still exist, because I am married to the Bookmobile Man! He's been doing it for about 27 years now, going to rural schools and public stops throughout the county. He has such a following of little people (some grown up now with little people of their own) that where ever we go, he looks like the Pied Piper. Honestly, there are many people who don't know my name, they just know I am married to the Bookmobile Man. LOL When I go to write a check somewhere, invariably someone will ask in awe, "Are you married to the Bookmobile Man?" Yes indeedy.
He will get such a kick out of this post and all the comments.
Posted by: Bliss | January 30, 2004 at 10:33 AM