contours provocations - 2005-1116

contours provocations
journal - 2005-1116 - wed 2100

Wet Pine Straw; Large Print; "Historic Britain"

When I got up this morning, it was cold. The wind was snapping and taunting the trees. The front yard is now convered from one side to the other in wet pine straw that reminds me of brown snow.

My big excursion today was to look for large print books for mother. I took a meandering route that should have taken me to Barnes & Noble. But I made the mistake of forgetting about the road construction and wound up in bumper-to-bumper traffic behind a black SUV. I absolutely could not see around the dark behemoth. I finally reached a point where I could turn off and try a different path.

Before I leave the subject of SUVs, I think I read that ecoterrorists in NYC, throw dog excrement at them. I sorta like that idea.

I thought I'd remember seeing a compendium of three of Sue Grafton's novels. "A Is for Alibi" "B Is for Burglar" "C Is for Corpse" Although not a large print book as such, the print was large enough that mother would be able to read it without too much difficult.

AT B&N, I searched around and could not find it. Then it dawned of me that I must have seen it at Books-A-Million. Next, I thought about the fact that is was a large book that would be difficult for her to handle. So I dropped the idea.

In my wandering around at B&N, I noticed a book on the bargain table titled "Historic Britain from the Air." What a wonderful find it has proven to be. I'm so glad I bought it. A few of places I'm familiar with, but most I'm not. I'd never heard of Knole and its 365 rooms and 52 staircases. There's a shot of the area around 10 Downing Street that I'd never seen before. (Actually, I'm not certain which building is Number 10.) Chatsworth is another extraordinary discovery.

On my way home, I happen to think about Border, which I'm happy to say had two large print books I thought mother would find interesting. Sue Grafton's "R Is for Ricochet" and Margaret Truman's "Murder at Ford's Theatre."

Attempting to locate large print books on the Web is far more difficult than you would think. I tried Amazon, but everything I found was only available through a third party. And frequently, I was not sure if the book in question was really in large print.

I located a couple of large print publishing houses, but the books were pricey.

I may need to look for a large print book club.

PAX!