Melanie is in town for a week from Duluth, and she said to me yesterday morning, "I need to go do something beautiful."  So she suggested we eat lunch at W. A. Frost and Company.  We were not disappointed.  I'll tell you more about our completely satisfying experience later.  The thing I'm really excited about is this.  I told Melanie that I wanted to see Garrison Keillor's bookstore, Common Good Books, but I had no idea where it was located.  When we asked for directions, we discovered we had just eaten lunch right across the street from it!  Honestly, this type of thing is happening to me at a startling rate lately.  Some people believe serendipity means your life is on the right track.  I'm going to subscribe to that school of thought.

Unwittingly eating lunch across the street may not seem remarkable to most of you, but you must remember, I am from the farm.  When I was growing up, the idea of the Twin Cities was as foreign to me as a trip to Mars, or Mankato.  And to imagine that you are across the street, quite accidentally, from the place you wanted to see, still feels like a bit of a miracle to me. 

Common Good Books is a homey place.  And, as you can imagine, had fascinating customers.  This couple was traveling across the country from Philadelphia and said they had been camping out here for a couple of days.  They were charming. Having been raised on the prairie of Minnesota, I feel a kinship to certain book collections like Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, and of course, Garrison Keillor's tales from Lake Wobegon.  Just for the record, Walnut Grove, Minnesota is a real place, and Lake Wobegon is not.

I was very happy to have found a copy of the book 'Tis  by Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes.  Of the two, I enjoyed 'Tis more.  I gave my first copy away.  Loaned it, actually.  Sometimes books have a hard time of finding their way home.

The management was kind enough to let me take pictures, so visit my SAINT PAUL photo album to see a couple more shots of the place.