Booking with Jay--Archer City

Today marked the end of an era for me I suspect, at least for now. My friend Jay and I went to Archer City for book shopping day. We have done this for about 4 years approximately 3 or 4 times a year. Sometimes less sometimes more but also fairly consistently. It is less than a 2 1/2 hour drive there and we both feel our heart rate quickening when we get close to the town. Anticipating the smell of books, the feel of a good book in my hands, and the overwhelming quantity of great books, we park and head into Booked Up #1. Always a great experience!

The small town, hometown of master author Larry McMurtry, near Wichita Falls is the home of one of the largest used book stores in the country. It is called Booked Up and is actually a series of 4 separate stores on the town square. Containing over 500,000 books on every subject, a visit to Booked Up is a day of pure joy for me. As quickly as possible, which is not always very fast, I peruse thousands of books, looking for fiction, history, music, poetry, and occasionally specialized genres. As a part-time (and might I add dismal failure) book collector and seller, I am always looking for a quality book I can read and then later sell. It makes for a shimmering, energetic day of learning, of reading, and of discovery.

So once again we jumped in the truck and headed to Archer City for booking. But today was different somehow for Jay is moving out of the state. He took a position at a church in Montana and will be starting there in January. Yes, he will return to teach a class at Howard Payne through the Spring semester but his time will be limited. His family plans to join him in March. My booking friend is moving.

I realize change is inevitable and that there are others who love books as much as I do, but Jay's booking intensity level matches my own and we somehow feed off of each others book love. It makes for a great day at Archer City. I can still have great book days and am sure there will be plenty more. But probably not with Jay. Book shopping in Archer City with Jay Smith is over. The end of an era. Am I sad? No question about it.