As I do almost every year, I gave up buying books for Lent. Some years I stick to it pretty well, and some years I don’t; some years I take way too much advantage of the “Sunday loophole.” (Count the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter; they’ll add up to more than 40 if you count Sundays. Therefore, “Sundays don’t count” in keeping a Lenten vow. So said my mom.)
This year had been a pretty good one…up until yesterday. However, yesterday was Palm Sunday, so I figure I almost made it. Besides, it was a special occasion!
April 17 is the anniversary of Tall Paul’s and my first date, and we decided to mark it by taking a day trip up past Santa Barbara to Solvang, the “Danish capital of America.” That’s Danish as in “people from Denmark,” not the pastry, although the town does have abundance of bakeries, along with wine-tasting rooms and a couple of very nice bookstores.
This is the interior of Valley Books, a place that could actually make me a fan of used bookstores. I picked up a couple of books there – one of which was barely used, plus three new books when we stopped at The Book Loft. Everything I bought was already on my wishlist. You can’t say I didn’t do my part to shop indie bookstores this weekend, and I have to admit I don’t feel quite as bad about breaking my vow a week early because of that.
