The boys, Em, and I hit our local library yesterday. As a Libertarian, I love it. I absolutely, positively love it. The land upon which it is built was donated. The structure? Funded by catfish dinners, book sales, and other private contributions. Every book in the library has been donated. Every book. And the entire thing is run and staffed by volunteers. It's small, and doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it is ours. It is truly a public library, and its doors are open because it belongs to the people-with-a-lower-case-p and not at the whim of government funding projects.
When James learned that it's run by volunteers who come and spend a day a week at the library, he asked if we could do that. Miss Joy, the Wednesday lady, enthusiastically said yes, and pointed out that the library would be able to stay open longer, or perhaps even on another day, if we volunteered our time. What a valuable, valuable lesson for the boys! When things are settled a bit more, this will be one of our projects. The pay, while not legal tender, is absolutely phenomenal.
The five of us then headed into town, the plan being to meet Zorak for lunch, take Miss Emily to meet the ladies at Zorak's work, get the boys (my wonderful, but Very Shaggy boys) to the barber, stop at the Crunchy Market for breads and flours, and then on to Pioneer Club. That was the plan, anyway.
We were at the library an hour or so longer than we'd planned. Zorak had an unexpected meeting. Lunch was at 3:30. The ladies were gone by the time we were done eating. The barber is only open Thurs, Fri, Sat (so the boys are still Very Shaggy). We did get some breads and pastas and made it to Pioneer Club not only on time, but early. In all, a good afternoon and evening.
The baby shower was moved to next Wednesday, so Zorak and I got to sit in on the Bible study. I love our pastor's teaching style. He's informal, articulate, well-read, and humorous. Even Zorak chuckles enough to stay awake, which is helpful beyond belief. Pastor is also a history buff, so he speaks to the way I learn Bible the best: in context. I truly enjoy his studies.
Two of three. No, strike that, three of four. Wow. Three of the four children were sound asleep upon arriving home. James continued to talk uninterrupted (not even to inhale, we don't know how he does it) until after ten. He was asleep at that point, but still talking.
Zorak is exhausted. All these months of constant tension-filled progress and utter lack of sleep have now caught up with him and he is sound asleep by ten-thirty (which, if you know us, you know is ridiculously early - that's our equivalent of the retired crowd eating supper at four!) Em and I stayed up a bit (tired grin), talked and tended the fire, then hit the hay.
In all, a nice outing, indeed.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
8 comments:
What a wonderful day out!
I love your library. As a "retired" children's librarian, I think I'd have a hard time not being able to make suggestions about books the library should buy (and would wish that I were wealthy enough to donate all the books I wanted the library to have), but I Love the idea of an all volunteer library where you can pitch in and keep the building open extra hours. As you say, what a wonderful experience that would be for the children!
Do you Really have a store called the "Crunchy Market?" Just the name makes me want to shop there!
Our rector is another who is able to put Bible teaching into context in a way that helps me understand lessons that previously made no sense to me. (Maybe it is partly his background, with a Jewish father and Episcopalian mother!) Unfortunately, I don't think Anyone could keep Ed awake for long when he is just sitting and "listening."
Hope Zorak got a good night's sleep!
Cordially,
Melora
Sounds like a good day! I love the way you describe your days with all your babies. Wish me luck getting through mine.
LB
Sounds like you all had a great day, indeed. I hope Zorak caught up on some much needed rest. And, brave are you to head out to the library with 4 little ones. I'm amazed that you would have the energy to go. It always took me at least a month to recover and find my groove after having a baby.
Have a blessed day!
Oh, your library sounds just wonderufl. I would LOVE to be able to volunteer with the older boys at our library, but they are definitely a "bigger" (read: "snootier")library, and not incredibly kid friendly. What a great opportunity! Even if it never works out, it is so nice that the librarians were enthusiastic about it and made your boys feel like they can make a difference!
What a perfect sounding project! Children need to have chances to find fulfillment doing for others in these foundational years and hopefully this will set the atmosphere that it's giving, not getting that brings True Happiness. Sink your teeth in! I'll be applauding. And a private library? Wow, a Libertarian's dream! Marcella
I love the sound of your library, what a wonderful idea - and it just shows that there is a passionate community there that really cares about books. Our library is a little unusual in that it is just for our city (which isn't all that big, about 80K people) so they have a fair amount of flexibility in what they do rather than depending on the whims of the county. They are very responsive about buying books library patrons request too, which is very nice.
Don’t fret the shaggy boys, remember the boys you hung out with in high school weren’t exactly sporting high and tights and most of us turned out okay.
The one advantage you have living where you do is the ease of travel. When my third one was born, and winter came (in the deep freeze of Saskatchewan) I remember that taking trips anywhere was such a loooong procedure between snow suits, boots, etc.
Sounds like a great day.
Post a Comment