A Dreamer and Her Big Santa-Size Sack of Books for Road Trips

Vintage magazines and recipe booklets are so enchanting--especially the holiday-themed ones. This Farm Journal is from 1966; my neighbor’s Mom saved it.

When I go on my New England overnight road trips--here to Cape Cod, or to visit our family in Maine, Meg and Greg in Vermont or Sis in Connecticut--I bring so many books. (I also brought several on the August 16 girls’ trip to Florida with Figgy, Florida Orange and Skipper, since we were driving there and back.)

It’s as if I think I can catch up on what I want to do in my life--read more--while I am away from home responsibilities for an overnight or longer. And when you drive--without any real baggage limitations or extra fees--it is easy to throw in another and another book.

Besides, I can’t predict if I will be in the mood to read about Cape Cod, page through a novel or learn more ways to tie a scarf.

It’s 10 p.m., and I changed into my red plaid flannel PJ bottoms and soft cotton top from The Salty Crown in Orleans. I would like to blog about Cape Cod now, but if I do, I won’t have read any of the pages in any of the books that I brought this time. 

We head home tomorrow. I’m choosing to read after tallying this list of books I brought. Eccentric to tote such a portable library? Maybe. Yes.

1. Cape Cod, Henry David Thoreau
2. 6 in a Ford, A Tale of a Nation-Wide Tour by a Family from Maine, Marion C. Holmes, gift from Dan found at old book shed in Maine
3. Trending into Maine, Kenneth Roberts, ditto
4. How to Tie a Scarf, 33 Styles
5. A softcover 12-Step book
6. A hardcover 12-Step book
7. A 12-Step dictionary to better understand the words
8. Own It: The Secret to Life, Diane von Furstenberg
9. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, Ruth Franklin, gift from Sis
10. Brave Enough, Cheryl Strayed, gift from Figgy
11. What Would Jackie Do?, Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway, gift from my neighbor
12. Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration
13. The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett, Kate’s copy lent to me (book group)
14. Girl Scouts Handbook, W.J. Hoxie, gift from Sis
15. Java Head, Joseph Hergesheimer, copyright 1946, chosen at little free library cabinet at Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters in Brewster today (IDK what the book is about yet but it’s a pretty vintage edition)
16. Race and the Cosmos, Barbara A. Holmes, from the same library box--I thought it might interest Dan
17. Waterproof guide: Tidepools of the North Atlantic
18. Waterproof guide: The Ultimate Guide to Shells of the New England Coast and Beach Life
19. The Care and Keeping of Friends
20. Drew, holiday issue of the magazine from Drew Barrymore, bought at CVS in Montclair

And oh! My neighbor Beth was just going through her mom’s belongings and knows I love cookbooks, recipe brochures etc. So this time, I slipped these cute old reads into my Lilly laptop case. Their vintage typefaces and photos!!!

• Recipes for Happy Holidays and Goodies for Giving
• Recipes with the Marshmallow Fluff Touch
• Betty Crocker’s Cakes Kids Love for Birthdays, Holidays, Any Day
• Martha Holme’s Holiday Recipes, from the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, 122 S. Michigan Avenue
• Farm Journal’s Christmas Book, copyright 1966

Thank you to Beth and her mom!

Good night.