Libraries, like post offices and family farms, are especially critical to rural life as well as urban and suburban communities. It seems sometimes as if the political and cultural system is warring with rural life, eliminating jobs, farms, farming and community institutions. Cobleskill is fighting for its library, a beautiful building.
In Cobleskill, N.Y., more than 75 people turned out to support their library and talk about writing, publishing and technology, an dogs and animals. It was a great night, a full house, a sold out supply of books, cookies and cake. Again and again, I find that people love their libraries and come out in droves to support them, a message that’s important for politicians to hear as they bail out banks and car companies and feed embattled libraries to the budgetary wolves.
I talked for several hours, and fielded a slew of great questions about my books, e-books, and the nature of writing. Maria also sketched the beautiful and recently renovated library and we sold a slew of notecards to benefit family farms. Thanks to Christine Dickerson, who badgered me for some years to come to the library and speak. Christine, a former library director, is not a person you say no to easily. Tomorrow, we are heading to the Scoville Library in Salisbury, Conn. Radio interviews in the afternoon, reading/talk at night. My voice is giving me some trouble, so I’m gulfing down cough drops. Fending off rumors about a big storm on Wednesday. We are going as far as we can get. In Cobleskill, a balmy 5 degrees. Thanks to the good people who came out to support their library.
Heading to chilly Cobleskill. First stop – sushi in Saratoga. It is cold!
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I love watching animals in different kinds of weather. I learn so much from them all of the time. They do not listen to Storm Center. They do not track snow and rain, and fret over their plans and decisions. They live in the day. Weather has become a new tool in the Fear Machine, and last Friday, I started to track a potential Northeaster moving up the coast mid-week in the middle of my library tour. I thought I might cancel, and everywhere I went over the weekend, people were relating the latest changing “news” about the storm – where it was going, how bad it would be. I looked once, and was warned to stay indoors all week. An hour later, the storm would be the worst of the year. Again, it was hardly even mentioned.
I started looking online. I started getting anxious. The poor librarians started looking online for me. The e-mails were mounting. The storm was moving. The Fear Machine is viral, it depends on anxiety being transmitted from person to person like a bacteria, or meme. Not who I want to be.
This morning, watching the donkeys stand in the bitter cold, turning steadily into the sun, I got to see who was the ass and who wasn’t. I am going on the tour, not listening to or asking for any more weather reports and dealing with things day by day, as I am learning to do. Like parts of the health care and insurance and media system, here is another system I am opting out of. I have a hunch I’ll get to the libraries fine, and if I don’t, I’ll have some peaceful and happy moments in hotels and museums with my former girlfriend. And some long-awaited books and music.
And oh yeah, I just cancelled my American Express Gold Card, which I’ve had ever since I can remember. The regular one is good enough.
Packing up. The dogs paused on their way in this morning. They weren’t eager to stay out there. I’ll be doing an “Inside The Library Book Tour” report from the iPad and elsewhere during the week stay tuned. Packing up.
