As I was pushing Zofia's walking stroller along the slightly bumpy sidewalk, passing yet another bunch of heavenly smelling bushes, what did I see?
Something of a tree-house-lookalike, a birds' nest and a doll house, it is most certainly the smallest library in the World. Inside? A seemingly random collection of books for big and small people. Not sure why I remember this, but hidden between the "Bridge of Sighs" and "Winny the Pooh", was Bill Clinton's autobiography. How comprehensively inappropriate... Just yesterday, on another afternoon walk, I saw an inconspicuous Decatur-mom-and-child duo on a bicycle with a kid trailer pull up and choose a book. The child looked less excited about the endeavor than the mother, but there they were, perusing this latest example of creative community-living.
Of course this scene, and the little library itself, made me reflect and brought my thoughts back to Europe. Could this happen there? I am no all-Europe expert of course, but I did see some of it. And I am skeptical. And I am not even talking about the undeniable and regrettable fact that in much of Poland, and much of London, and Oxford, and Paris, and Brussels, and Dijon, and lots of other places, the books, and probably also the cute library itself would soon be gone never to come back. Some clever person would think it a waste for these goodies not to reside in his own home. Community is one thing, but one's home is one's castle. The creative community living is something Decatur has tons of with more to spare, but as much as I love Europe, and Poland, I can't see it there.
Funny how I, in common with many fellow Europeans, used to repeat the well-known categorical statements about the American every-man-for-himself philosophy, and lack of appreciation for literature and other forms of higher culture. Travel broadens the mind, and humbles it too.
Oh, am I going to be using the library? Not any time soon. I have a pile of ten books next to my bed and on the sun-porch, waiting to be opened and appreciated. Babies are not conducive to reading, I found.
