A fool in a bookstore

[Guest guest]

OK!

I admit the obvious... besides I can't hide it... if you see me there

you can tell anyway.

I can be... and often am... a fool in a bookstore. Especially in an

old bookstore with rows of dusty shelves and a few overstuffed chairs

carefully arranged where you can just flop down and rest " your weary

bones " . Or even better catch a cat-nap. A wonderous pleasure as we

get older and closer to the point of complete senility.

I'm not quite there yet but I seem to be working on it.

I also like the " bargain " bins of newer stores. That is where I found

my " Waterloo " yesterday and of course I surrendered without too much

of a fight. I knew I eventually would.

Its better to be a lover than a fighter anyway though that department

has also suffered a lot recently too - but that's another story.

In the spirit of Father's Day I wanted to tell you of a very special

book I found there yesterday - " A Boy's Summer " by Gerry Spence.

Yes, that grizzly looking, buckskin clothed, gravelly throated lawyer

that often appears on the talk shows and especially on CNN. I've

managed to read most of his books and I've turned into an admirer of

the man and his way with words. I would love to be so gifted.

Anyway, the book is also in the bargain pile at Amazon.com and I commend

it to you. The price is 4.99.

The book is meant to be read aloud - by a father to his young son or

by the son to his father. It is a sharing thing between a man and a

future man.

It passes along simple things - like how to make a kite - weave a

basket - a fishing pole from the wild - what it is like to write a

poem - how to start a fire like the indians (and the cavemen).

Bits of wisdom shared from father to son Both in reality boys.

As Gerry says in his introduction " Fathers are just boys with

whiskers. "

Such wonderful insight!

And such a wonderful book for Father's Day - for yourself, your young

son or that wonderful father you know.

Ron Ritch