Today we took the bus downtown again to pick up a few items and go to the library. Nora is not impressed by the bones on display in the library entrance. This space was the city hall in centuries past, and when they were excavating to create the library they found these skeletons and it was a graveyard in the 1700s. If I were in those graves, I would be pretty happy to know that I was now in a library as a part of the city’s history.
The self-serve return system is cool, slide the books into a conveyor belt machine that reads the barcode and checks them back in. The check-out system pretty cool too. You use your card to activate the system and stack all of your books on one square, and it reads everything in the stack at once! It happens so fast that I’m not even sure I can catch it on video. They must have chips in the books that the sensor can detect. The kids are finding plenty of books to check out, and Ted found a several books as well. I’m using the kindle that I got for Christmas, so I won’t start looking for books until I’m finished with the one I’ve got checked out. It’s fabulous that we can still use the digital books and audiobooks from the Corvallis library collection.
Going downtown always takes longer than we thought. I had snacks with me, but everyone wants more than a handful of almonds when we’ve been hauling stuff around in the cold. Although Norwegian pizza chains don’t rate high in our experience, the kids were excited to try Peppe’s Pizza, the major pizza chain. It was better than 12 years ago, and still expensive, but a fun treat for the kids. You cut your own pizza with a scissors! As Ted said, you just have to enjoy the experiences and don’t fret too much about the cost.
Back on the bus home to catch the 4:00 sunset skyline and a little grocery shopping before everything closes on Sundays. Both kids video chatted with friends from home before bed. It’s fun to listen to them enjoying their friendships while seeing them reach out to embrace new opportunities.
