And Thus the Holiday Season Comes Upon Us

The last three months of the year are some of the best because of the amazing holidays and celebrations that take place.  This smile basically embodies how I feel all throughout October, November, and December:

I'm pretty sure he gets his smile from his mom...
I swear she used to smile like this every Christmas morning

 And first up we have Halloween...the Nightmare before Christmas if you so will :)

Sand Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients

The beauty of traveling is that by putting yourself in an environment outside of your comfort zone, you're almost forced to look around yourself.  When we look up, we have the amazing opportunity to look beyond ourselves and our own small lives.  We get to see a far grander picture than we're presented with every day.

This was a really fun hike and I sincerely enjoyed it.  The ruins were inspiring and speak of a different lifestyle than the one we have today.  There was once a time where people didn't get everything they wanted by swiping a card.  There was a time where information was accessed by just a few taps of our fingers.  I think those times had beauty and eloquence, though despite the trials and hardships, but I have to admit, that I'm glad I don't live in those times.  I'm very grateful for the modern advances we have.

Is it a Suggest a Purchase Submission or a Job Application?

I know we're not supposed to have favorite patrons at the library.  I mean, that's like having favorite kids! Literally, though, sometimes people just leave their kids at the library, so I probably shouldn't choose my favorites...

 Anyways, I do have favorites and the other day a "Suggest a Purchase Submission" came through that was submitted by one of my favorites, a cute kid who has autism.

Instead of putting in a title of a book he wanted us to buy, he put in his name and then in the comments section he put:

"I would work as librarian as a job at MILLCREEK LIBRARY.  i love to work hard and always happy."

And I just went, "AWWWWWWWWWW."

Moral of the story:  Sadly, it's not that easy to get a job in the library.  Also, as a side not, applying for a job via the "Suggest a Purchase" form is definitely not the best way to apply, although it will get us to notice you and give us a bit of a laugh.

It's Located at the Corner of Get a Map

So, at the library, we have this book sale section.  We sell our old books and then people can donate books that we'll sell.  At bare minimum, we try to sell readable books.

But there's this homeless guy who keeps hiding his old, smelly books in our book sale.  And I mean, I normally like old books, but these books are seriously nasty.  The last one smelled really bad and had stuff growing on the pages.  Anyways, the point is, it's super weird that he keeps hiding them in our book sale.

But I have this theory:

In all these books, there are random highlighted lines. 

And I kind of think maybe he's trying to send us a message.  The novelist in me wishes it was a secret code or map for treasure, but it might just be a bit more profound than treasure.

The book he hid today was "The Novels and Tales of Robert Louis Stevenson" and he had this highlighted in it:

"Hope, they say, deserts us at no period of our existence.  From first, to last, and in the face of smarting disillusions, we continue to expect good fortune, better health, and better conduct; and that so confidently, that we judge it needless to deserve them."

Message received, random citizen.  Message received.

Keep Calm and Swim On

Aquariums are magical places where people surrounded by land can pretend they live near an ocean.  Especially when they have a special little bubble you can crawl into that literally lets you pretend you are in the ocean with the sharks, rays, eels, and fish...and everything else that was in that tank. Obviously I'm not the one who's a marine biologist.  But I don't have to be a biologist to know this guy is ADORABLE.  Just look at that happy face.