Never too old

Saturday morning I rose early--dressed in my closest approximation to a witch, donned my wand and time-turner, and headed over to BookSmart. There, my fellow staffers were similarly transformed, as was the store, which now boasted a Three Broomsticks, a Forbidden Forest, and its own Herbology class, staffed by Professor Sprout.

You can say whatever you like--that this was all marketing; that it's just a series of books; that we're grown-ups for christ's sake! But I swear to you, there was all kinds of magic present in that store for the 6 hours that I passed out books to happy customers, adults and children alike. It's hard to explain exactly--but there's something profound about letting yourself be amazed, drawn into a story, and to love people who are only as substantial as the pen they were created by.

Then, for the past 48 hours, E. and I have been reading aloud to each other the final saga of Harry and his pals. I've eschewed most email contact, TV, phone calls, etc. We're at about page 520 and hope to finish it today if possible. We wanted to read it fast to beat out the jerks who post spoilers. Anyway, I thought I'd just post as many pictures as I could and let them speak for themselves: