I found this in a book this morning...

 

Perhaps it's a marriage proposal?

his small voice rang out

A teenager called the library today looking for her father.  The teenager had been dropped off at the wrong coffee shop where she was scheduled to meet her study partners.  She described her father – heavy, glasses, tall – an accurate description of many of the patrons there today, and after putting her on hold, I spent several minutes asking strangers if they had a teenager they dropped off at a coffee shop before coming to the library.  Most patrons were good-natured about my question and a couple even looked amused.  I finally located the correct patron, who was digging through mysteries with hands the size of tennis racquets.  He was at least a foot taller than me, maybe even two, and quite shy.  He merely nodded affirmatively when I questioned him about his daughter.  As we shuffled to the front desk he neither spoke or walked with me.  Whenever I slowed so that he could walk beside me he would slow even further. 

When I handed him the phone his small voice rang out:

“Rachelle?”  Long pause.  “Mmmhmm.  It’s ok.”  Pause.  “It’s ok.  I’ll be there in a few minutes.”  Pause.  “Alright, love you too sweetie.” 

The conversation, while short, clearly proved that the teenager had messed the address up.  Rather than being upset with her, the father was not only calm but also unaffected and sweet.  I couldn’t help myself.  As he handed me the phone I blurted, “Wow.  You are such a wonderful dad!”  The gentle giant beamed and grew another foot.  

Are you ready for some Washington D.C./Baltimore/Various Places in Maryland pictures?

Robert is ready to dive into a bag of boiled sea insects.  Btw this is Hot N Juicy, and I'm not just talking about my nerd.

Yea baby.  

I pondered for several minutes about how to take this display home with me.  I have become such a diehard elephant & piggie fan that I now have dreams about them and in the dreams they are my friends.

I was mesmerized by this small act of rebellion in the subway.  

Robert, standing in front of the White House.  

Chop't.  

Bring. It. On.

While driving through the slums in Baltimore, elegant structures and buildings popped up every now and then.  After driving through a trash-packed street this gate arose suddenly.

ReReads, located in Crofton, MD, became a favorite bookstore within minutes of entering.  The owner was in the process of shuffling the books around and the poetry was not only in two different places, but also in several teetering stacks in-between the two places.  Close by was an adorable quilt shop, Tomorrow's Treasures, bursting with wacky and delightful textile-artist ladies.  

This is the cumulation of perusing close to ten bookstores.

Robert is the tiny speck at the bottom of the National Monument.

We are not only in the Capitol, but also in the very center of Washington, D.C.  

Hanging out in the cupola of a caboose.  

Library of Congress selfie.

And yes, not only did I get a library card, but also requested items.  This is a very sneaky picture Robert took.  

oodles of fun

Robert and I are currently in the Baltimore area for both pleasure and business.  When one of Robert’s clients asked for assistance in the Baltimore area we jumped on it.  This has been our longest trip since I started working full-time at the library over two years ago and my first visit to the northeast, and we are having oodles of fun.  

We have been exploring both Baltimore and Washington, D.C. with many stops in smaller towns here and there.  When Robert works I have been keeping myself busy with my embroidery and various public library lurking.  While we haven’t been taking very many pictures we do have a few that I will post once I get home.  We have seen the changing of the guards at Arlington, pressed our faces against the heavily-tinted windows of Charm City Cakes, eaten the best bagel of our lives at Bagels Etc., explored at least five public libraries and just as many bookstores.  We walked the block around the White House, enjoyed a couple rides through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, saw some incredible graffiti, including a hand filled with houses in the middle of the Baltimore slums, slogged through our first encounter with a library that uses the Library of Congress classification (good practice for Library of Congress), and had amazing salads at Chop’t.  I also discovered that the subway is a charming place to hang out if you’re a writer or artist.  It is ideal for people-watching and is worth every second of the crowds, fart smells and nausea.  Once I discovered the four different kinds of subway riding I simply prepared myself for the worst so that I could revel in the rare delight of an empty seat.

What are the four different kinds of subway riding you ask?  The first involves sitting in one of the seats next to a complete stranger who is mumbling incoherently.  This is a treat!  The second kind of subway riding happens when there are no free seats but you get to hang on to one of the lovely bars they provide, and if you are defining lovely bars as bars that have never seen a disinfectant wipe, you are absolutely dead on – way to go!  The third kind of subway riding happens when all of the bars are taken and you wobble around with nothing to hold onto.  This is when you engage in  some incoherent mumbling of your own.  This is an excellent way to dispel some of that psychosis that we all have bumping around in the ol’ noggin.  Lastly, the fourth kind of subway riding is when there aren’t any seats or bars but it no longer matters because there are so many people that only your eyes move when the subway lurches.  This is just as terrible as it sounds, but if you’ve been curious how a weave is attached but do not have the guts to get that close to someone who has a weave, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.  

I know it sounds like we are missing some important places in the D.C. area, and you are right!  We still have a few more days of exploring. Pictures soon!

the secret life of pants

While helping an elderly gentleman check out his books today he pointed at a patron exiting the library and loudly shouted, "You see that man?  He has two dummy legs!"

Before I could figure out an appropriate response he took his cane and started smacking his leg with it while boasting, "I've got a dummy leg too!"