One of them is a book that was there during the half price sale, but which I was unable to find when I looked or it and so assumed it had been sold. I just didn't look hard enough, I guess, because there it was today in plain sight. It is a memoir called A Cornish Childhood, by A. L. Rowse. One of the books that burned was my copy of his quite famous biography of Shakespeare, which I had for over fifty years. It had been decades since I'd read it, and it was one or the books I hoped to re-read one day, having in the intervening years absorbed a great deal more Shakespeare than I had at the time I first read it. I expect that a copy of that biography will turn up at the Goodwill store eventually, as it has been so widely circulated. In the meantime, his autobiographical memoir looks interesting.
I also picked up a paperback featuring all twelve of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple short stories. I do like the anthologies. And then I picked up a downright pristine copy of Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun, which is one of the books I lost in the fire. The copy I bought today looks like it was never opened, so is in better condition than the one that burned. I don't know if the Mayes and the Christie were on the shelf during the half price sale, but if they were I overlooked them, as I certainly would have bought them then had I seen them.
When I rounded the corner of the building on my way to Trader Joe's, I saw an interesting sight. Carnival rides and booths were being set up in the corner parking lot that nobody ever uses except in spring and summer when they operate the weekly Farmer's Market there. Everything was lit up, but there was no crowd and I heard no music, so I figured it wasn't open yet. When I got home I looked it up on the Internet, and it turns out to be a fundraiser for Wags and Whiskers, a local pet rescue group. It will be running from four to ten PM Thursday and Friday, and from noon to ten PM Saturday and Sunday. Since it's raising funds for the dogs and cats I think I'll just have to go, though I won't be going on any of the rides.
The sight of the carnival induced a fit of nostalgia for the carnivals the local Chamber of Commerce held at my intermediate school when I was a kid. The rides then were nowhere near as large as the ones I see in the parking lot at the Plaza, and their incandescent and neon lights were quite dim by comparison with the LEDs and fiber optics adorning the machines they have now, but I always enjoyed going to them. I especially enjoyed watching the people. They had some pretty scary carnies working in those days, with wild hair and lots of tattoos, but I doubt that today's carnies will stand out from the crowd of ordinary visitors. Half the guys I see shopping at the supermarkets anymore look like 1950s carnies. But we shall see. I'll probably drop in on Thursday after I get back from Safeway. Maybe I'll play a midway game or two, and maybe win a Chinese finger trap. I got dozens of those when I was a kid.
There are no special plans for tomorrow, so it will probably be pretty much a rerun of today. Most days these days are reruns. It's a good thing I enjoy watching lizards and listening to mockingbirds, because that's about all my waking life consists of now, aside from Internets. What my dreams are like I usually can't say, since I seldom remember them, though last night I did have one in which I watched an alien flying machine circling above the place I was trying to hide, since I knew it wanted to kill me. If that's the sort of thing they are about I think it's a good thing I don't remember them. I hope I don't have it again tonight.