When Books Go Camping

My weekend of camping reminds me why I'm such a fan of books found at the used book store. I took three paperbacks with me--Running With Scissors; Eat, Pray, Love; and Clan Of The Cave Bear. The first two were ones I'd never read, while the third one I read long ago and thought I might want to revisit. I dug out Clan Of The Cave Bear as my first read, and realized I'm not the same sharp-eyed person who first read it. The print is tiny, the book is long and my weekend wasn't. Next, I started in on Running With Scissors. Midway through, I realized I didn't like it. Apparently, only really dysfunctional people run with scissors. I can't lend this book to my friends. I'd have to hide the scissors. With two books down, my third and final choice was Eat, Pray, Love. I took this book to the St. Francis River. I  fashioned a cozy reading nook on a boulder in the middle of the wet, but not very big, river. I propped Eat, Pray, Love between my knees and belly and began to read. As the pages started to curl, I figured out my swimsuit was wet so I tucked a towel underneath the bottom edge of the book. That worked great. Then on the way back from the river, a drink leaked inside my bag. Critics have described Eat, Pray, Love as absorbent reading. They're right. So was Big Guy's heavy, clunky library book that I was also carting in my bag. His book is nearly a month overdue. Now it'll go back to the library with water damage. For the moment, Big Guy is not worried. His library book is not checked out on his library card. Birdie will be the one apologizing; paying the fine; and perhaps, paying for damages. Chances are Big Guy will wish he carried his own book back from the river. As for my paid for, gently used books, they remain a camper's bargain. With its wrinkled pages Eat, Pray, Love will remind me of the fun I had not catching fish; Running With Scissors will become tinder on some future trip; and sometime soon, Clan Of The Cave Bear will be read again by me or snagged by Birdie, who most likely won't share it with her dad.