Destination Clearwater
Destination Clearwater: Alone in Public
"Alone" doesn't mean "lonely" especially at the library.
My paddleboard's loaded on the car, and underneath my sundress I'm wearing a daffodil yellow bikini, but I can't seem to make myself get up from my roost on the third floor of the library. The bay is a sheet of smoked glass, cut only by boats and the occasional bird, and I want to get out there, I do. But I'm perched at the edge of the library's reference area, in a soft chair with sturdy wood arms, and the solitude among the stacks fills me with tiny zings of pleasure. Growing up, I volunteered here. Oh, not this library – a much smaller one in the same spot. It had three floors but the third couldn't or didn't hold many books, if memory serves. I learned the Dewey Decimal system like other kids learned to bait a hook or throw a ball. I …
