There's something scary in there

This is The Bookmine and it is the heart and soul of GroveAtopia.   It's so pretty surrounded by all those flowers they sell.  They even leave them out on the street day and night and no one ever takes them.  Now that's downright magical.

Inside there are books, and jewels and clothes and toys. There is art.  There are things that smell good and things that look pretty.  There is a cat of course, and there are Gail and Birdie the sisters who started the place back in 1976, when the only bookstore in GroveAtopia was the one that sold Christian books.

These women, fresh from college at the U of O, decided they wanted to live in the country and decided they wanted to open a bookstore.  So they found a log house outside of town, and opened their store in town.  

At first they stocked books on subjects they liked or studied in college.  There were a lot of philosophy books.  And poetry books.  But as the years went by, they got smarter about selling books and started selling other things - all things of beauty - many of them made by local people.

But The Bookmine is so much more than a place that sells things.  It is a gathering place.  Some people go there every day to sit at the little table in the back and drink coffee.  Everyone who walks in ends up talking about something completely unrelated to the reason why they came in to The Bookmine the first place.  That's because Gail and Birdie will talk to you, if they are not on the phone.

Between them they know just about everything about and everyone in GroveAtopia.   When you go in there to buy something, you have to make sure you have time to talk because that is what you will end up doing.  Buying may be what brought you in, but talking is what you will remember.

And now comes the scary part.  I know it's hard to believe that there could be anything scary about this place but there is.   Because amid all the pretty things and happy people talking about this and that lies the Scary Drawer.  Go ahead, admit it, now you are a little scared.  

Here is what I know about it.  If you have to leave something, like say a document, or a love letter for someone to pick up,  they will keep it for you at The Bookmine.   It really is convenient, and you would be surprised how often you find yourself needing to do it.   

So where do you think those documents and love letters and other things go when you leave them?  In the Scary Drawer.   And when you pick something up that someone else left for you, you say, "there's supposed to be something here for me in the Scary Drawer." Then whoever is behind the counter will slide the drawer open, sometimes rummage around for a bit,  then happily hand whatever it is over to you.

Now I have no idea why it's called the Scary Drawer, but really it doesn't matter.  What does matter is that The Bookmine is such a pleasant place that it can make the Scary Drawer not scary at all.  Not even one little bit.

Even so, I admit I do not want to look inside it.  Just in case it really is scary.