My Heart Leaps Up when I Behold...

I decided to stop in at Barnes & Noble last night and just buy a journal to keep in my purse for those weird moments of strange inspiration that need to be written down so that I don't have to scrounge for an odd receipt anymore. It's actually quite cute and purple. Purple is important to me.  But as I wandered, I ran across a thing that made my heart leap up. No, it wasn't a rainbow in the sky. (I'm sorry Mr. Wordsworth.)  It was a notepad.  Yes, a notepad made my heart leap within me! I embrace my quirk. 

Okay, now do you see why? Wouldn't you be all giddy over this find?  No?  Well, as I said, I embrace my quirk. This notepad took me back to all sorts of times and places from pre-IR checkout. 

I remember how I loved looking over the library pocket cards to see how long it'd been since it was checked out. I enjoyed reading books that had been overlooked for a while. I enjoyed seeing the names of the previous borrowers and wondering how they'd responded to the book in question. And, oh! Was that the name of my current crush? Well, we'd have something to talk about, wouldn't we? I mean, if I actually talked to people outside my tiny circle.

In sixth grade, I got to volunteer in the library. It was wondrous. I got to stamp the cards after the names were signed. I got to file the cards in their proper order. It was divine. I got to put the cards back in when the books were returned and it was marvelous. 

So, seeing the notepad ignited nostalgia. In these days of quick-self checking, the stories of the pocket cards are gone.  I didn't realize I missed them until last night.