The Fish Quill Poetry Boat will set out today from Elora for a ten-day canoeing/camping trip on the Grand River. Comprised of eight poets from Toronto and Quebec, the group will hold poetry readings each evening at 7:00 p.m. Stops in Kitchener, Cambridge, Paris and Brantford.
Honouring the 150th anniversary of Pauline Johnson's birth, the flotilla will end the journey at Chiefswood, the home of the famous Canadian poet.
~ Pauline Johnson (1861 - 1913) Canadian writer and performer

Photo: Wikipedia

Thought for Today ~

With the upheaval of moving the bookshop the last two weeks, an essay titled "Unpacking My Library" naturally caught my eye. Add a few paint rags ~ and the following by Walter Benjamin describes the bookshop.

"I am unpacking my library. Yes, I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order. I cannot march up and down their ranks to pass them in review before a friendly audience. You need not fear any of that. Instead, I must ask you to join me in the disorder of crates that have been wrenched open, the air saturated with the dust of wood, the floor covered with torn paper, to join me among piles of volumes that are seeing daylight again after two years of darkness, so that you may be ready to share with me a bit of the mood ~ it is certainly not an elegiac mood but, rather, one of anticipation ~ which these books arouse in a genuine collector."

A Passion for Books edited by Harold Rabinowitz & Rob Kaplan,
Three Rivers Press, 1999

Sign on The New Neat Little Bookshop

Thought for Today:

"I have friends, whose society is extremely agreeable to me; they are of all ages, and of every country. They have distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and in the field, and obtained high honors for their knowledge of the sciences. It is easy to gain access to them; for they are always at my service, and I admit them to my company, and dismiss them from it, whenever I please. They are never troublesome, but immediately answer every question I ask them. Some relate to me the events of past ages, while others reveal to me the secrets of nature. Some, by their vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits, while others give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important lesson how to restrain my desires, and to depend wholly on myself. They open to me, in short, the various avenues of all the arts and sciences, and upon their information I safely rely, in all emergencies. In return for all these services, they only ask me to accommodate them with a convenient chamber in some corner of my humble habitation, where they may repose in peace: for these friends are more delighted by the tranquillity of retirement, than by the tumults of society."

~ Petrarch (1304 - 1374) Italian scholar

Will re-open ~ as soon as we can. Watch for details.

Will re-open ~ as soon as we can secure a safe place.
Photo taken Wednesday, July 20. Hole in drop-ceiling through which fell a 35.6 L, 17" x 22" Rubbermaid bin full of water. Shop vac delivered for John to do some sort of clean-up! Turned out to be the least of our problems.
(For larger image, click 3X on photo.)

Smile for Today ~

"When we are collecting books, we are collecting
happiness."

~ Vincent Starrett (1886 - 1974) American writer, newspaper man, born above his grandfather's bookshop in Toronto, Ontario.

"...open the the book itself, carefully lifting the front cover and, with brand-new books (as opposed to used ones), quietly thrilling at the slight resistance offered by a cover that's never been opened before. Gingerly turning the pages, I read the half-title page, the title page, and, in a nonfiction book, the table of contents, savoring each step, until I come to the first page of text. This is the real test, the point at which I will decide to buy or not to buy, elect to make this book part of my life or place it back on the shelf. And so I read the first paragraph, only the first paragraph, never more...."

~ Rob Kaplan (b. 1952) American author, journalist