Talking in the Library

      It may be hard to believe now, but there was a time when I was asked to sit and talk. I might go to the Valley Falls Library to get a book, and the day was slow, as it often was back then. The long-time librarian would motion toward the chairs at the table, and ask me to sit down for a while. She was not a particularly chatty person nor was she an introvert. She would talk about her early days. She told me that she had started out as a teacher. I think it was near the Canadian border. She  taught the children of the workers there. "That must have been an interesting job," I offered. But she said, "No, I didn't like it. They smelled bad."  

    Maybe she didn't have many people who wanted to hear these old memories. But I didn't mind, and I remember them now, long after she's gone.