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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

How It Will Be This Year



Warm, dark morning
Warm enough for bare feet
Moonlight through black walnut branches early Tuesday. Dark fading to light behind the eastern woods. Morning in my world—another strangely warm morning, unseasonably warm, given that it’s the first week of December. The other day I saw lilac buds at a neighbor’s house looking as if they were preparing to open--not a good sign if the orchard trees follow suit. But all we can do about the weather is to take what preparations we can for severe storms and then wait and see what comes.

In other areas of life it’s possible to do more. The local committee calling itself “Best for Kids” will once again host a Holiday Bake Sale and Bazaar at the Willowbrook Inn this coming Saturday to benefit the Leelanau Children’s Center. In addition to cookies, cakes, candies, and holiday breads studded with fruit and nuts, there will be vendors offering all manner of handmade craft items and local food products. The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mill Street.

Dog Ears Books has had a table of books at the bazaar for the past two years, but this year we are participating in a different way. Instead of trying to guess ahead of time what kind of books might be popular as holiday gifts, I’m opening my entire store to benefit the Leelanau Children’s Center. My “annex” to the bazaar will run both Saturday and Sunday, for the convenience of workers and vendors who will be busy at the Willowbrook all day Saturday.

Here’s how it will work:

There will be a table at the Willowbrook for Dog Ears Books, but at that table, instead of books, will be cards for shoppers to bring to the bookstore. (I’ll have a few at the bookstore, also, for anyone who doesn’t make it to Mill Street.) New books and used books, notecards, posters, and calendars—on Saturday and Sunday, anyone making a purchase at my bookstore and filling out a card can direct 20% of dollars spent on anything I have in stock to the Leelanau Children’s Center. My hours on Saturday will be 10 to 5; Sunday hours 11-4.

I’m hoping that holiday shoppers will be encouraged by the wider variety of bookstore inventory this system will make available for the benefit. You can find book treasures in your own hometown, support local business, and support a good cause, all with one visit to 106 Waukazoo Street on Saturday and/or Sunday, Dec. 8-9.

Another reason to stay in town after the Willowbrook closes is that the lights on the big tree on Nagonaba Street will come on Saturday evening. (Do you remember last year?) And of course, if you’ve gone to the Leelanau Children’s Choir and Youth Ensemble Madrigal Concert on Friday night, you’ll already be primed for holidays.

By late afternoon Tuesday the wind was coming from the north again, as it should, and air temperature dropping. Winter is coming back, and that’s okay. That’s the way it should be. (Don't stop here--there's another paragraph following the photo!)

Warmer light, much colder air--can you feel it?

Personal P.S. I must say--. (There’s no “must” about it; you’re being self-indulgent. So what? It’s my blog!) There are lots of times when publicizing local events, even my own bookstore events, diverts me from what I’d rather be writing about if I consulted nothing but the Writer Within. Reality, however, dictates that the Writer Within be nourished by the Bookseller Without and the Community Member-at-Large. Publicity, public service—today they’ve had their turn. In my next post, however, the Writer Within and the Bookseller Without will collaborate, as once again the blogger lets loose with a passionate opinion. Please stay tuned....

10 comments:

P. J. Grath said...

So what's with the formatting of that last paragraph? No clue. Tried three times to make the font uniform in size. Giving up.

Deborah said...

I'm staying tuned!

Dawn said...

Format changes are much like the weather. We can't do much about them. Sounds like a fun but busy weekend. And I'm staying tuned too!

P. J. Grath said...

Good morning, Dawn. I got the formatting of that paragraph fixed at last! Nothing like a small success to get the day off on the right foot. And yes, December is always a full, busy month. Wish you could be here for the children's choir concert--you would love it!

P. J. Grath said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
fleda Brown said...

I love your photos. Thanks for giving a view from there. Too many lights here in TC.

P. J. Grath said...

Northport will be brighter come Saturday evening when the tree lights come on, Fleda, but the countryside is pretty subdued as we head toward the shortest night of the year.

Gerry said...

I am very taken with the warm earth/cold sky photo. We have been walking on the oddly warm beach, cold wind whipping our hair. The Bay is lower than I can remember - big rocks everywhere. And yet . . . I am hopeful.

P. J. Grath said...

Thank you, Gerry, for adding to my accumulating anecdotal evidence that despair dwells in the Country of the Young. I am hopeful, too--about so many things.

Dawn Parker said...

Please post a photo of the tree if you get one. Would dearly have loved to be there.