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| Click to hear Chopin's Nocturne Op. No. 2 |
As I have discussed on here before I think, people have gotten to the point where where they almost prefer to experience life through the lens of a camera. The majority of communication is done through Facebook, Snapchat, texting, and other social media and when that happens, I believe that people miss out on the experiences happening right in front of them.
After taking the bus downtown, Mel and I went to a nice local coffee shop called Hasselton's, which was recommended to me by another friend of mine a while ago. It was so wonderful and the coffee was delicious. The flavour of the day was Maple Cream and I thoroughly enjoyed it while Mel tasted the exquisite flavour of steamed hot chocolate. We sat at a table that had low, very cushioned seats that were a lovely shade of dark blue. It was quiet and cozy and Mel and I had the opportunity to just sit and talk with one another.
After that, we went to a vintage/antique shop where we met a nice gentleman named Dimitri. We had a nice chat and I expressed my enthusiasm about the shop because he had set up a little theatre area complete with theatre seats and a projector screen. He said the plan was to eventually have movie nights there. I thought the place was amazing and just like something out of Gilmore Girls (there I go quoting a show haha!) but I could see this place hosting vintage cocktail parties (they have a fully licensed bar) and other events. Dimitri seemed really interested in my ideas and I hope he takes some of them and runs because I think having a place like that in Peterborough will only add to it's charm.
Speaking of charm, I want to tell you about the biggest highlight of my day. I wanted to visit a book shop. You know the kind that is stacked from floor to ceiling with previously owned, well loved books. It's the kind of place that you can just lose yourself curling up in a little nook to read for hours. That is exactly what Mel and I found, it is a little store, not even listed on google, that has dusty, narrow aisles filled from top to bottom with books of every kind you can think of. It kind of reminded me of some long forgotten library and I fell in love as soon as I stepped foot in the door.
I almost missed the door actually, because it was a little hidden. I am so glad that Mel saw it though and when we stepped through the threshold it was like I was transported to a different world. It was a much more romantic kind of world filled with adventure, wonder, and enchantment. Walking in there I felt like I had stumbled into the Beast's library and would soon discover one of the lost scrolls from the Library of Alexandria. I was truly blown away. Mel and I explored down the aisles and eventually Mel drew my attention to this large book of poetry. It almost looked like a bible all leather bound with embossed lettering on the cover. I read a few lines from the book and although I cannot right now recall what it was about, just reading poetry again for the first time in what seems like years, my very soul began to sing.
I picked up book after book reading short poems and lines from sonnets out loud to Mel. Each syllable seemed to raise me higher and higher and it wasn't long before I felt like I was floating a few inches off the ground from pure joy. In this day and age of technology and quick, superficial communication there seems to be a lack of soul in the words we choose to write down. Reading the way the poets of the past describe even some of the most simple of things just really pulled at my heart and made me yearn to further appreciate the world around me.
It came time for Mel and I to head back to the bus terminal and just as we were turning to leave, my eyes were drawn to a tiny book, almost invisible as it was snug up against a much larger book and didn't have a very eye-catching cover. It was The Poetical Works of John Keats, who is one of my favourite poets. I hungrily flipped to the table of contents to look for my favourite poem of his. It was there on the very last page, that which I now know is is last sonnet, it is called Bright Star and it reads as follows:
Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-
No-yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever-or else swoon to death.
I wanted the book so badly, however when I asked the bookshop owner if they had debit, he said no, but that I could take the book now and just come back and pay for it later. I was completely blown away, and in awe of this elderly gentleman. His name is William but he also said that people call him grandpa sometimes. He runs the bookshop with his grand daughter and he is everything you would expect and wish a romantic, enchanted bookshop keeper to be. I found him very similar to the bookshop owner from Beauty and the Beast actually. He wasn't very tall, but he carried himself with a quiet, kind, and gentle dignity. It seems to me that life has taught him to extend kindness to others and they will reciprocate it back to you. This is such a startling contrast from the attitudes of most people these days who always seem to think the worst of others and live in a constant state of a 'me first' kind of mind set.
There is very little trust any more, people don't seem to have much faith in each other any more. This elderly gentleman trusted me on the spot without even knowing my name or what kind of person I was he trusts me to come back later. He has not lost faith in humanity and I think he still looks for the good in other people and I find that so inspiring because it is very easy to lose that some times. Maybe he just wants to make sure that the books will be enjoyed and finds that more important than keeping one book on the shelf, but whatever his reasons, I felt quite honoured to have met him today and I look forward to going back to visit again. (and of course, to pay for my book and probably buy some more!)
The store is called Thea's Books and it is located on Water Street near the Scotia Bank if anyone is interested to visit and the vintage shop is called Catalina's Vintage finds which is also located nearby as well as Hasselton's coffee shop.
One last thing of note as Mel and I were walking back to the bus station, we saw a guy with his window open playing his guitar to the street below and I thought, 'wow, what an amazing place this is to have so much culture and charm.' It seems so hidden behind all the main stream chain restaurants and stores, but our little city here really is such a gem and there is beauty to be found around every corner. All you have to do is turn off Netflix, put away your phone and just live in the moment because, "today is the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be again." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Thank you for reading,
~Oriona
