I am drawing inspiration from this palm-sized leather-bound book with a gold stenciled cover that reads “Guide To Piety” and is very likely over a 110 years old! A schedule of holy days in the beginning pages starts from 1902 and ends in 1928. I can barely make out the cursive handwriting in faded pencil on the inside cover. Perhaps it was a gift that became a reliable talisman on a bedside table, held so much the leather is worn.

Let me explain. The Orcas Library holds a book sale a few times a year and last Saturday was the Winter Sale. We always make a point to go – one part out of an obligation to support one of our favourite places on Orcas, one part something to do with the kids and one part succumbing to the thrill of the hunt. Books, mostly donated by islanders – from gorgeous coffee table books to Beginning Readers – are priced from 50 cents to $2 for hardcovers. Isn’t it bewildering that the books are cheaper than gift wrap, not to mention premium rolls of toilet paper? And yet, the sale was a quiet affair. If this had been at Walmart and on DVDs…

But I digress, I wanted to show off my score – this little book was too beautifully distressed for me not to pick up. There is something so simple and quiet about its appeal, sitting on that ‘Religious’ sale table amidst newer titles that just seemed to demand your piety, and loudly too – so loud I usually shuffle past. *Laugh* Which has left me wondering, is this some sort of sign? In the middle of Lent, too.