that, that, and this

When I landed in Encinitas, CA in July of ’21, rolling down from my life and divorce in Portland, OR, one of the first things I did was to find the Encinitas Public Library and apply for a library card. It feels to me like a priority when arriving in a new place.

When my temporary card was approved I asked for directions to the Jack Kerouac books. I was given the aisle and those decimal numbers and made my way there, only to find there was not a Kerouac book in sight. I did, however, spot and pick up and subsequently borrow the book “When Things Fall Apart (Heart Advice for Difficult Times) by the Buddhist nun Pema Chodron. I’d read a number of Pema’s books back in Oregon, and the wrong aisle fact is that that Encinitas book at that time helped save my ass.

I read it, returned it, and bought a used copy on Ebay, I’d say August ’21. It’s here at the keyboard now, underlined throughout, lovingly aged, and with a wicked split in the binding between pages 46 and 47.

I picked it up and began reading it again Saturday morning.