Friday Night Lights

For many years throughout our marriage, one of our true lights on Friday night was heading out to a bookstore. When I was still teaching at Harmon Middle School, my post-prandial Friday evening routine was this: (1) grade the vocabulary quizzes I’d administered a couple of days earlier; (2) head out to a bookstore with Joyce.

For years, our favorite was called Booksellers, up on Rt. 422 just west of the I-271 interchange near Chagrin Falls. They had a huge inventory (which we generally diminished somewhat on Friday evenings), and—a different kind of nourishment—great apricot scones in the little coffee shop they operated on the premises. Joyce and I would buy books, consume scones, feel as if we were the luckiest two people on the planet.

But Booksellers couldn’t make it. Nearby were a Barnes & Noble and a Border’s. And so—in 1997—Booksellers closed, and our new favorite became Border’s up in Beachwood. They, too, had a great inventory—and a coffee shop (though, sigh, I still missed those great apricot scones).

There was also a Border’s in Solon (we went frequently), near Chapel Hill (Akron),  and out in West Akron (ditto). These three didn’t have the inventory of the Beachwood store, but it was sometimes more convenient for us. Oh, and Border’s owned a remainder shop in the Stow-Kent Plaza; we hit that place occasionally, too.

But then—in 2011—the Border’s stores all went under, and that left Barnes & Noble out in West Akron—a bit of a drive. But we still went. Often.

A Books-a-Million opened up in the old Border’s site at Chapel Hill, and we went there occasionally, but their inventory was/is not impressive. Still ... some shop was/is better than none.

We have a local favorite, too—the Learned Owl in Hudson, where we live. It’s been in business a long time (I actually clerked there part-time in 1981-82). A small store but very friendly, and both Joyce and I stop in there fairly often. Our grandson Carson loves it to death.

But—sadly—our bookstore days are mostly done. As we sail toward the sunset, we are now selling our large library online (via ABE—our site is called D. J. Doodlebug Books). And, sure, we still buy books now and then—online and in physical stores; we both still read—a lot. But I have a Kindle, and we buy far fewer books than we used to.

Our Friday nights are much, much different now. We used to go to a movie, hit a bookstore afterward. Now ... my energy is much diminished, and we often don’t do much on a Friday night but run an errand after supper—maybe get a Diet Coke at Mickey D’s or a decaf at a coffee shop. In the summer we like to go down to Szalay's Farm Market in the Cuyahoga Valley. Buy some fresh corn and other goodies. (We'll probably go this evening--it's a gorgeous day here.)

If we go to a movie, it’s usually on Saturday night (following a long nap!). Or we lie in bed and stream something.

Excitin’, eh?

But I still feel that ... urge on Friday night. The feel of a new book in my hands ... the taste of an apricot scone in my mouth ... the earnest nerdy talk with the woman I love on the drive home ... the Friday Night Lights of literature and love in my eyes ...