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Tag Archives: Egypt
Volumes Have Secrets
No matter where I am in the world, I feel immediately at home in a library. Oriented in space by the catalog system and the temple-like, almost ritual regularity of checkout desk, reference section, fiction and nonfiction. I also feel oriented in Time–through the mathematical chronology of the history section, and in terms of the linear development of human thought through the eras of literature and poetry contained in the vast, sprawling fiction section, ordered only by the author’s last name and the alphabet.
Posted in Travel philosophy
Tagged Africa, Alexandria, Egypt, road wisdom, Ryan Murdock, travel, travel philosophy, vagabond
6 Comments
A Postcard from Alexandria
To me, a library has always been a sacred place. I went there as a child in search of silence and reflection, just as others seek the dim solace of a church. I went there to find answers to my questions, just as others might seek a priest in times of distress. Sometimes I went there simply for the atmosphere–the smell of the books, the soft tread of shoes on worn green carpet, the weight of the silence. The smell of old books takes me back there with the same immediacy that the smell of incense and candle wax has for the Catholic.
Posted in Africa, Postcards from the Edge
Tagged Africa, Alexandria, Egypt, library, postcard, road wisdom, Ryan Murdock, travel, vagabond
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