I have SARS.

Okay, maybe I don't, but I have a lousy cold and I am coughing like mad, so I will make this short.

I learned, while on vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia, that people there do not read. I know, it amazed me too, because where I live, you can't go two miles without running into a bookstore or a library, but out there... *shudder*

I drove through five separate shopping malls, some old and decrepit, some new and shiny, and found one, ONE comic book store. And I didn't go in, because it looked more like a hangout than a place that actually sold comics.

I was frightened. I didn't think such a place existed that had so little interesting in reading material. There was a book section in the large gift shop at Williamsburg, but it sold only historical novels and big sixty-five dollar coffee table book on things like period dress and architecture and silverware... *wipes drool from bottom lip* But I digress..

There was a Starbucks and an organic supermarket, wasn't a bookstore the next step in yuppification? I found the phonebook at the condo and dug through it, searching for bookstores. Since I was south of the Mason Dixon line, I figured i could at least find a Christian book store, though some among us might feel that categorizing such a place under "book seller" might be stretching the definition. There was one. And I think it supported itself by selling music and gift stuff too.

Incredible. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Luckily I had brought sufficient reading material with me to make it through the week, but I had to supplement it by watching Star Trek on TNN in the evening and going to bed without turning too many pages. Okay, I watched more than that, but I don't get cable at home, so sue me. Most of my time was spent visiting plantations on Garden Week, but that's another story.