After a restful night in Sarah and Corby's guest room, we got on our festive American flag colored clothing and headed downtown to watch the local 4th of July parade! We met up with another family that Sarah knew, and all sat on the curb watching the high school bands march past behind homemade floats that were full of waving residents. Noah had a look of awe, as usual, and happily sat on mommy's lap as the parade marched by.
After the parade, we got to explore the fantastic used book store that Corby's family owns. It was closed for the day, but he was nice enough to let us meander through the shelves and shelves of old books that was a Kindles worst nightmare! Every inch of the store was covered in books, each one a gem! As Noah sat in the children's section, surrounded by worn copies of the childhood classics, I thought about how those electronic kindle-type books will never really replace a real book. At least not for me. There is a simple satisfaction that one gets from turning the crinkly paper of a good book. And then there's that distinct smell of a good book that's been read many times over. Some may find that smell gross, but I grew up going to the local library in Cupertino weekly, so that smell of a used book evokes a sense of childhood nostalgia and peacefulness for me. Nonetheless, whether the book is shiny and new, or has been read by hundreds of strangers before it found it's way into your hands, I want my child to grow up knowing what it's like to turn a paper page. I don't want his "normal" to be sliding his finger on a plastic screen as an illuminated "page" attempts to show him a Caldecott Winning illustration!
I really hope this quintessential used book store can ride the torrential craze of Kindles and Nooks! Even if the big guys like Borders and Barnes & Noble go out of business, it's just nice knowing that those simple used book stores such as Corby's still exist, in lovely places like Ann Arbor!