A trip of a life time......

I belong to a wonderful book club that was began as an off shoot of a summer reading program for our local library.  The ladies that participated in it had such fun that they extended it into the winter months and it became a staple of our library.  I didn't go to the club but saw a good portion of the ladies on Tuesdays at CAKLs Lady encouraged me to go many a time, to the book club, but as I am an addict when it comes to reading novels that aren't classic or children's book I declined over and over.  Well one day due to an unremembered circumstance I joined them.  I enjoyed their fun so much I tried to make it to the book club when I could. They kindly let me be a voyeur to many of their books, but more kindly they made the genres they were reading adaptable to my reading a non-fiction or classic or the author just had to be from a region.  This summer they were reading Susan Wiggs and Lady decided to write the New York Times best selling author about donating books to our club, we just couldn't imagine her actually doing it or for the ability for all to read the same book at the same time, which we never get to do.  Susan Wiggs sent us 10 copies of her book the BeeKeeper's Ball and a basket of goodies that complimented the book.  Lady began a correspondence with her, and her husband her biggest fan.  They extended us an invitation to come and visit them as their guests in their guest house.  We were overcome with delight at the kindness and wondrousness of the invitation.  We had a rummage sale to help with cost to rent the guest home next to the authors home, there were in the end just to many of us to stay in the one quest house.  The community came out and supported our sale and our once in a live time opportunity.  We tried to get our local paper to include an article in the paper, alas the did not, what an opportunity they missed because the paper on Bainbridge Island did once we were there, here is the link http://www.insidebainbridge.com/2014/10/20/bainbridge-bestselling-author-susan-wiggs-hosts-montana-book-group-for-dream-visit/ ...... well lets just say we tried to include the local paper but they lost. I digress. 


We left for Bainbridge last Friday, got to the ferry before rush hour and were visiting with Susan Wiggs for Hors d'oeuvres by dinner time.  We had a marvelous time exploring the Island of Bainbridge, the ocean (okay to some of you it is a sound but to a land locked Montanan it was the ocean, and I counted it as such, and I have now seen the pacific twice), we got to see the Japanese Memorial for the Nikkei people of Bainbridge and of course we visited the library, there were three librarians and one sub librarian in the group after all.  Monday we left our moment in paradise and made the 8:45 ferry and were on our way home with a lifetime of memories, signed Susan Wiggs books and did I tell you she introduced us to three (yes three) of her sister Authors from Bainbridge.  Two hundred of them live there, imagine that.......


I just want to say that I learned in four days to love everyone of the ladies in our club, we started as a group of book lovers and returned a group of friends that really love and know each other in ways most book clubber never know one another.  I was, and hope to continue to be, a part of something bigger than ourselves.  There were no squabbles and when have you ever seen 8 ladies share 2 cars and 2 quest houses for four continuous days and that not happen?  We came home a family that love and really care about each other, a transformation made on a trip to visit a wondrously generous author who might just be our kindred spirit..  I know I will never look at any of these ladies and not feel a bound that will last a life time.... The wanders of reading in action I would say or maybe just God giving me something special for my life time, love and hugs to a wondrous moment with my sister queen bees......... tomorrow.