My Perfect Day

My day started innocuously enough.  I could do the dishes, or I could take the dogs out for their morning walk.  The walk won. The sun was trying to break through the clouds, so it was bright out, but a few fluffy snow flakes were gently falling.  My boys (dogs) and I tromped around in yesterday's snow, reveling in the white powder, which had been absent the previous year.

Cheeks red (me) and bladders empty (the boys), we head back inside where the sink and its pile of dirty dishes stare at me accusingly.  I could do the dishes.  Or I could call my mom.  Calling mom wins. She woefully tells me how she is now responsible for shoveling the driveway since my dad's cardiologist told him he's not allowed.  I look back at the pile of dishes and I make my decision.  "I'll do it. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

It took me only 30 minutes to do their driveway; the powdery snow was easy to move off the driveway.  I chatted with my parents and then went on my way.  Shoveling their driveway had empowered me with a drive to get more done, so I did the unthinkable: I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike.  I showered, blow dried my hair and decided to run "errands".  I didn't have anything I had to do, but I wanted to see if my local used book store had any books that I needed to buy to have in my collection.

The used book shop is a labyrinth of book shelves, with hand written signs pointing out the various sections.  I wander around for at least 15 minutes before I come across the fiction section.  I zig zag through the aisles until I finally see the W-Z section.  I see The Book Thief first and fondly touch the spine. I push another book out of the way and there it is: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  I read this years ago but it is high up there on my list of favorite books.  I smile at my find (and at the price) and go purchase it.

I leave the shop and drive to one of my town's shopping centers.  The snow flakes continue to fall lazily, as if they have all the time in the world to reach the ground. The street and the happy shoppers passing me look like something out of a movie.  I decide to go into Target but get side tracked by Bath & Body Works.  After smelling so many candles and lotions that the smells have all melded together, I look at Target and just can't do it.  I veer off and enter Barnes & Noble.  I feel as if I've come home.  I pass the display tables of books.  I caress the cover of In Cold Blood.  I smile at The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,. I frown at 50 Shades of Grey. I laugh at the proximity of it and a book of erotic poems to the bible/religion section (they are perpendicular to each other).  I am on my way out when I pass the $5.99 or Under table.  I do a double take because I see this:

  and this

I stare at the cover, confused.  Richard Castle?  As in Castle, the tv show on ABC?  I've recently been watching all the reruns on TNT, so for a moment I'm convinced I'm hallucinating.  Ok, maybe the TV show is based off of a Richard Castle who is a novelist, like Bones is based off of Kathy Reichs' books.  I turn the cover over and see the smiling picture of Nathan Fillion claiming to be Richard Castle.  What the?  The "about the author" claims that Richard Castle lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother.  Like in the tv show.  But it's fiction!  It's not real!  I flip open the cover to Heat Rises and the dedication is to one of the characters (who died) on the show.  Now I'm REALLY confused.  It's fiction!  It's not real!  That is Nathan Fillion, not Rick Castle.  I'm starting to question my sanity.  I put the book down and back away from the display.  I move instead over to the mystery section and there, in the Cs is another Richard Castle book and Castle graphic novel.  The one I just saw the episode about.  It's like my two worlds collided and I could NOT comprehend.  Do not compute. 404: error.  I mean, I haven't been this confused since I watched The Commitments.  (A movie about a band who doesn't exist except in the movie, oh but they do tour IRL, but yeah, aren't real band? WTF?)  SO CONFUSED!

I quickly leave the store, but then turn back to buy a chai latte from Starbucks.  I mean, how can you pass up a Starbucks?  Anyway, I drive home, wash the salt and grime off of my car, wash the dishes (finally!) and call my bestie to tell her my ridiculous tale of the Castle book.  We laugh hysterically, and I decide to write it down here.

Now, as I watch the snowflakes gather speed into a full flurry, I sigh with contentedness.  What a perfect day. 

I wonder if there's a Castle repeat on?