Live Music at 10 a.m. at The Book Nook in Montague

Yesterday I rode my little red bike on the Rail Trail four miles up the way to Hart. On the way back, I decided to explore Montague. There was nothing here the last time I drove (as in car) down this one-block long main street (Is it a main street, if it's the only street?) This time I discovered The Book Nook. Cranberry-colored walls, wooden floors, the requisite blackboard announcing "Montague Madness," Whitehall Whitewash," and "Sailor's Sludge." There's a pet store on one side and a Yoga Studio on the other. At the corner I found a pub and gift shoppe with French Provincial placemats (made in China).

Of course, The Book Nook has WIFI and it's free if you purchase a cup of coffee. So this morning I bike back with my Apple laptop in my backpack. I enter and realize that the music I had heard while parking my bike was live. At 10 a.m. on Friday morning! Sitting in the windowsill with his guitar quietly amplified strums and sings a man who could have stepped out of the 60's. How do I know? Because I recognize his music. "The passing years will show....Time after time, you'll hear me say that I'm so lucky to be loving you." Who was I loving then? I chuckle. I'm smiling again.

Oh, my! Now he's singing "Satin Doll." One of my dad's favorites. I never really listened to the lyrics before! Oh, my!

What a wonderful place. Like the General Store of Yonder Years. Four women chat about scrapbooking for granddaughers and getting exhaust pipes fixed. Two codgers sitting at a high top table compare notes about drag racing and repairing porches. One is eating a yogurt frappe. The other sips from a bottle of water.

This musician has my number! He's looking my way and serenading me with "Exactly Like You."

Next to me is a young man who graciously helped me get on line. It took fine-tuning and fiddling but he persevered. I told him him I'm practicing Patience today, and when I learned he's a seminary student, I asked if "Patience" is one of the beatitudes. I'd planned on googling it, but nicer to ask him. He said, "No, but it could be considered as part of "The Pure in Heart." We're going to get a bite to eat later so I can tell him more about Harbor to Harbor and learn more about his seminary studies.

Right now I'm bloggin' and practicing Patience (if only for a day.) The gray skies outside don't matter. Inside is the sense of community that drew me to Printers' Row more than six years ago when I stepped into the Gourmand and into a new life.

The simpler life gets, the more I like it. Why do we strive for the gold and glory? But that's another topic. In the meantime, I plan to write about the following:

Stern First: Docking in Manistee.

Blueberry Beams.

Four essential items for the savvy cruiser (see photo)

She Stoops to Conquer: An Arcadian Portrait

Sailing Home to Mama

My musician is packing up. I'll engage him in conversation. His name is Richard Ballard. "I've been playing guitar in my basement for 40 years. Now Deborah lets me play here in the mornings."

He'll be here tomorrow. So will I!