Читать книгу Off On Our Own - Ted Carns - Страница 14

People who come here eventually discover the library. It didn’t start out to be a library, it just kind of evolved. I built a room onto the side of my woodshed. It had no windows. I called it “my dark room.” In one corner I had a soft couch-like little place with some pillows and blankets. That’s where I’d go when I’d hit a low point and needed to recalibrate. I’d wrap up in blankets like a caterpillar in a cocoon and let myself work through the anguish. After that was over I’d walk back out glowing and at peace because I just came out of a reality check. It’s that kind of place.

Once, a group of very troubled kids was brought up by their counselors. There was a severely autistic boy named Joey. He got drawn to my dark corner like tin to a magnet. No words, bribes or coaxing could get him to leave that place. They had to drag him out of there kicking and screaming and he kept on kicking and screaming to get back in for quite a time.

I’ve since installed a big skylight in that room and now it’s the library – four walls filled to overflowing, desk heaped, and little extraneous stacks all over the place. I’ve told people it’s my Internet connection. The big north wall has the most shelves and they’re filled with spiritual texts of all religions and the works of their saints. The east and the south walls are the how-to, cooking, gardening and nature section. The west wall is everything else. There are a few classics, a big bunch of philosophy, a few college texts, a couple of novels and a nice section of children’s books.

The religion section covers all bases, as does the nature section. Hell, I even have a book on identifying all the birds in Great Britain. But the how-to is the most impressive. I’d be surprised if the technical info on any subject relevant to living an essential lifestyle isn’t there somewhere. The only trouble is you can’t Google it. You gotta get your hands dirty and explore the shelves to get what you’re looking for.

Later in the book I talk about our garden and how important my topsoil is to me. I hauled it in, and if I leave I’ll haul it out. I think I can say the same about the library. As vividly as I remember the first little tiny garden Kathy and I planted – just a few square feet – I also remember the day I heard a story about the building of a personal library. I can remember the first few books I collected and where they sat, to the left of the fireplace on top of an old cabinet. That was about 34 years ago.

Between three and four thousand people have come up here to visit, alone or with a tour, from maybe 30 countries, but I’m not keeping count. I lent a doctor my hardback “Writings of Hippocrates,” and later tried to figure out who I lent it to. I looked through the guest book and found almost forty doctors.

The amazing thing is that all of this has evolved by word of mouth. Friends bring friends who in turn become friends and bring more people and they become friends. It’s like a Facebook page that both is and is not. Kathy and I have such an open door policy that our doors don’t even lock. It got a bit much one hot Sunday afternoon when we had 18 unannounced visitors and all I wanted to do was skinny dip in our little pool. Not that it wasn’t nice to see everyone, but that sweltering heat . . .