I grew up in bookstores, haunted and loved them, as so many people die and do. I fell away from bookstores during my years on the first Bedlam Farm, I was in love with madness. Battenkill Books has renewed my love for bookstores, my books and book tours have brought me close to them again. I sometimes work as recommender-in-chief for Battenkill, I spent many hours signing books, talking to Connie and Marilyn and Kate.

People think living on a farm or running a bookstore is an idyllic, or perfect life, it is a fantasy for many. Running a bookstore, like running a farm, is far from idyllic, it is hard, relentless, complicated work, it can be grinding and exhausting and filled with many details. Once in awhile, we are reminded of the beauty and soulfulness at the core of it, just I am sometimes overwhelmed by my love of my farm when I am standing out in the pasture, communing with Simon.

Signing books today, I looked up and saw Connie, the store owner, reading books to her son Henry, an avid reader and creator. My love for bookstores came over me in a rush, how wonderful to have a mother who owns a bookstore, I thought, for all the challenges of it. I have learned to keep my camera close, so I can capture moments like this. Connie has woven her bookstore into the heart of our small community, she reminds us why individuality, human contact and the love of ideas is so precious.

We need animals in our lives, we need to remember how to love one another, we need bookstores, where ideas live.