The Bear Minimum

I had the good fortune today to spend some time at my local library, and was pleasantly surprised by my fellow man whilst I was there! You see, my bookshelves have been becoming more over-packed than usual, so today I took myself off to my local carpenter to have two new bookshelves made. The gentleman in question is familiar with myself and my needs, so in short order he was setting off towards my home with all the necessary materials to create yet another in-set bookshelf in my ever expanding study.

As I was off work today, this left me with some free time, for though I am quite fond of my bookshelves, I am not fond of the eruption of noise that precedes ones creation. So I took myself off to my local library to while away some time. I found a thoroughly engrossing book, and sat down at one of the tables to look it over more closely. I also happened to have picked up a number of other volumes, on all sorts of subjects.

As I sat there, in the peaceful quietude that only a library can offer, the very next chair to mine was taken by a rather large, hirsute, heavyset fellow. Please keep in mind, dear reader, that many of the tables in the immediate area were indeed free, but low and behold, this fellow had made the decision to sit right next to me. I sat there, continuing to peruse my book, when he said to me, in a surprisingly polite manner, that he didn’t mean to intrude, but would I mind letting him look over one of the books in my stack. The fellows odour was intruding far more than this simple request, so I politely granted him the book, saying I thought it looked good, but I was more than occupied with the one I was reading.

One couldn’t help but notice the rather unusual assortment of books the fellow had accumulated in front of him. There were a few texts regarding early steam engines, as well as some concerning militaria, and then there was also a large book on kittens, and two books on knitting. He caught me looking at the books before him, and smiled, saying ‘Me Misses likes to knit’. I thought it rather charming that the fellow liked cats, and in spite of his rather pungent scent, I came to like the fellow sitting beside me silently reading. Well, almost silently, as he did have the heavy breathing of a hippopotamus not long finished a foot-race. Once again, dear reader, I am reminded of the old adage, ‘You can’t judge a book by it’s cover‘.