A lovely day

A beautiful shot of Westport, CT (Photo: Higgins Group)

It was beautiful out today.

It was what you'd want in March. The temperature was in the 60s while the "real feel" was closer to 70. In truth, I made the mistake of wearing jeans. It was a perfect day to break out shorts.

I popped on a polo shirt -- that gray one I wear a lot. A bargain, it was, only costing me something like $7.99 in Reading, PA years ago.

Despite all of those happy-sounding words, I'd be very much OK with forgetting today ever happened. In fact, the whole weekend could use a do-over.

Or a never-happened.

Time will tell these stories, I suppose because my brain doesn't forget certain things.

Nobodys will, actually.

Oh, sure, I'm happy to remember a time walking around a park and being in downtown Westport, CT. I love bookstores and I was in a Barnes and Noble that was quite nice. 

I'm a fan of bookstores. A big fan, in fact. I was all in with the Borders and Barnes and Nobles of the 90s and "early aughts" just as I was with the Waldenbooks and, closer to home, Book and Record of another time*.

* With locations in including Putnam Plaza in Carmel and the Baldwin Place Mall just south of Mahopac in, well, Baldwin Place.

I could spend a lot of time reading the books and perusing the music and glancing at the magazines and making plenty of purchases.

But the book store business has changed dramatically of course. It has to reinvent itself and I liked this approach at Barnes and Noble today in Westport, CT. It didn't need multiple floors and a cafe.

I can't hate on Amazon but it is sad how we can't just jump in the car and shop in entirely the same manner anymore. It takes orders over $25 for free shipping and even then it can be a several-day wait.

Where, at least in the electronics world, I could just go to Radio Shack "back in the day." But, we've created on our own beast.

This is not meant to be a Clint Eastwood meme, thanks all the same.

So it was nice to be in a bookstore. It was nice to hear sidewalk musicians playing and small but socially appropriate crowds watching.

I never really thought of the suite to close Side 2 of Abbey Road as an acoustic performance but sure, why not? It didn't sound bad at all as I strolled and pondered my need for a cup of Dunkin Donuts' coffee.

Sorry, I'm not calling it "Dunkin" any more than I'm calling the bridge across the Tappan Zee by the name of the father of the embattled state of New York.

Aesthetically I will take today for all that it was worth. The weather. The bookstore. The coffee. The (brief) walk in the park. Yes, please.

Emotionally? No, thanks. Let me forget about March 20 and 21st, 2021. Perhaps even some of March 19.

Why?

Let's go with my March Madness brackets. They're awful; a victim of upsets.

It's a reminder that the month of March can be a beast, I suppose.

Some days are great. Some are not. 

The perfect embodiment of its weather I guess.