Behind the Ironic Column

It was cold in Portland today.  The Arctic winds swept down the gorge from the east, bringing us air that had recently been in Canada.  The wonderful thing about the cold wind was that it also brought us blue sky and sun.  After the weeks or gray mornings, ice fogs, and general dismalness, this was a welcome change.  I prefer dodging ice that’s in chunks from frozen puddles on the ground to the ice that freezes to surfaces as the fog hovers over everything.  In addition to the bonus of sun, we actually saw a bright full or almost full moon last night. 

The less pleasant side of the cold is that my apartment has insufficient heat.  The designer seems to have thought he was in the tropics.  So staying warm is a challenge but I’ll take wearing the wool turtleneck AND the fleece sweater as long as I can see the sun for a while.  I realize that the weather will trend back toward dismal later in the week. 

In the meantime, I’m thinking up ways to visit warm places during the day.  Today was my visit to Powell’s.  I can spend hours in there anytime but today was especially nice with the frigid temperatures on the street.  I really did want a couple of books as well, so it was an errand well-timed. 

As I was browsing through the various sections,  I read the contents signs posted on the shelves.  These are good for explaining how the larger sections are divided up – making it easier to find what you’re looking for or to find just the right thing that you weren’t really looking for at all.  Browsing is fun and I much prefer it over using the computer to pinpoint an exact shelf. 

In any event, I was in one of the upstairs rooms — perhaps it was philosophy, or maybe psychology – when I noticed a shelf above my head marked “Thinking Skills Overstock.”   This struck me as commentary rather than inventory.  Do we have so many books on Thinking Skills that extra shelves are needed?  Or do we have such skill in thinking that we are oversupplied?  Can we, or do we, think more than we should?  Should we be around the corner in the aisle that has shelves for Emotions and Feelings?  Maybe there is an overabundance of thinking.  

I know I left the bookstore not only with warmer fingers and toes but with food for thought.

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