disheartened

this came in the mail this morning

and I'm sure that I'll read it this afternoon and evening

and finish it

like most I enjoy john gierach's style of prose

it's familiar and comfortable as an old pair of shoes or your favorite jeans

even though it seems like you've previously read or heard it all before
(because likely you have)

he is observant witty and well-reasoned 

this is not what I'm disheartened by

I watched in horror as my local borders closed up shop

I only visited once early on as the prices were slashed weekly

as they decimated their stock

it was incredibly depressing

the normally neat shelves in their baffling array of displays

were ramshckle

ugly yellow banners stretched about throughout the store

advertizing price cuts and whatnot

contributed to a bleak environment

that I as a bibliophile could not enjoy

I really miss my borders store

and there are no more rewards

even though they're only a mouse click away

fuck that

I wanna browse leisurely

sit in a comfortable leather chair and peruse a stack of books and periodicals

no doubt selecting one two or three

and I can't anymore

fortunately there is a barnes and noble a couple miles west of here

it used to play second fiddle but now is first chair

same baffling array

who designs the layouts of these places?

and why don't they carry more fishing books?

a decent selection of magazines

(hey I can get the drake *sucks* and fly tyer there)

anyways, I am glad it's there

but I wonder how long it'll last

I've sadly watched the demise of the friendly local flyshop

and my local sportsman's warehouse

the dwindling selection of fly fying materials of cabela's

the long slow death of the record store

and now the big box bookstore

and I'm disenheartened

I've often suspected that we're a nation filled w/ philistines

my suspicion is being fulfilled