Reconnecting and Refreshing

Today I made it to Barns and Noble Booksellers in Hamburg Pavilion. I got there about 2:30 this afternoon and stayed until 6:00 p.m. Yes, I know, this isn't my normal hours of patronage; usually I am there for hours and hours, but since I needed to get home and do some homework and hang out with Hubby for a while, I thought it was a good amount of time. And it was!



I roamed the stacks leisurely; there was ample opportunity for people-watching; and the cafe' mocha and sugar cookie wasn't rushed through, but slowly enjoyed. After securing a table (not my favorite, but a table none-the-less), there was also ample time for writing. I managed to work on a story that I am bound and determined to finish. It may never be published because of the controversial subject matter, but I want to finish this one and get actually submit it somewhere.



The writing experience was one of the best ones I have experienced in a while. The words didn't exactly "flow" easily, but they were good words. The next draft of the story, when it is entered into the computer, will give me the space and tools needed for good editing. With this new story I am not so concerned with a specific word count - the story is the thing. Surprisingly, because telling the story is the more important factor, the enjoyment of writing is returning.



Part of this could be due to the Moleskin reporter's notebook currently in use for this particular story. It just seems like the perfect medium for the story, as well as for many more stories in the future. Sadly, the current Moleskin reporter's notebook is almost full, which means a new one needs to be acquired.



Yes, I did look for another one at B & N, but there weren't any lined ones. If necessary one (or two) can be ordered on-line, which I may go ahead and do, but it would have been so much easier to find one so the advancement of this story doesn't have to stop or halt for any length of time. However, if one (or two) must be ordered then they will be and the story will be finished.



While I was looking through the area where the journals and Moleskins are located, something happened that made me take a mental step backwards. A woman arrived in this section to look up something in the language section which adjoins the journal section. There were two little girls with her. They were pretty little girls with blond hair and blue eyes and all of four or five years old. Each had a stuffed animal they clutched close as well as tossed while they talked loudly to each other.



As the little girls played and ran from one journal stack to another and yelled at each other in little girl talk. One of them said, "Oh, isn't this just the sweetest!" I don't know what the item was to cause such excited speech, but I'm sure it must have been a spectacular discovery. They finally ended up in the row where I was, as I knew they probably would, so I kept my eye on them and continued to browse.



Finally they appeared directly in front of me and began pulling out greeting cards from their stand. The mother kept her back to the little girls and, I think, pretended they were with anyone else other than her, not because they were embarrassing her, but because she really didn't want to be bothered with them. One little girl turned suddenly and looked at me. She gave me a small smile...then SCREAMED and ran other to where her mother was. Again, the mother paid no attention to either child. The second little girl looked up at me. I smiled at her, and she gave me a small wave as she walked calmly away to rejoin her sister.



When I came around the same stack and was about ten feet away from the little girls and their mother, both of them looked at me and SCREAMED in unison. They were blood curdling screams as if they had just witnessed the worst of things or someone was genuinely frightening them. It was such a distinctive scream several people came into the section and gave me bad looks as if I had indeed done something to them. I have never felt so ... self-conscious about being in a wheelchair in my life. After the screaming they were laughing and talking excitedly about nothing and everything like little girls have a tendency to do, which sent the interested adults away. The mother didn't turn around to look at them. One little girl said, "Mommy, I want to go to the toy book part." The mother quietly said, "Remember what I told you when we came in - you don't bother mommy until she looks at her books. When I'm done looking at my books we'll go over to the toy books."



What about the screaming lady? What about your children acting as if they were terrified to death of someone in a wheelchair? Barns and Noble is a public place, true, but you and your children should respect everyone, including people in wheelchairs or who have physical imperfections. It doesn't just belong to you!



Yes, I seriously considered going over and talking to the mother, but I don't believe it would have done anything other than create a scene, which would have ruined the day and up until then it had already been fantastic.


In order to reclaim my happy day, I roamed over to the fiction stacks where I found a book I wanted to read after my current read has been finished and a book for me and Hubby and headed to the cafe for my beloved cafe mocha and sugar cookie.

Because it is Friday, the cafe was packed and I had to wait for a table for a couple of minutes - long enough to re-situate my bag so it would rest easier on my legs. After I had deposited my book bag onto a table and head up to get said mocha and sugar cookie, I found myself in line behind a lot of policemen in their dress uniforms. Each badge had a black ribbon around it. Had they attended a funeral? Whose? I usually pay very close attention to the news, especially when a policeman has died, and I still can't remember hearing about a fallen police officer recently. Their shoulder patches said they were from the Ashland Police Force.

So...today was a good day. A day where yours truly reconnected with myself and felt my spirit refresh. Yes, it has been a very good day. Now Hubby is home and we both need to spend a few hours in each other's company and relax together.