We started in the front section of an indie bookstore, then wandered separately but circled the genres.
He found me and handed over a book. “This one’s for you,” he said. “It’s very you.” Nicholas Triolo - the shapes of his name matched the Enso Zen Circle.
By the end of our bookstore crawl date, we’d gathered eight books between us. He carried them in a brand-new fabric tote, which also held my fresh pair of jeans—and later, a half-eaten, shared bag of sea salt & vinegar avocado oil chips from lunch.
Back home, I made tea. We sorted our finds:
• His stack: military history.
• Mine: writing, photography, nature.
I cracked open “The Way Around” and paused at the prologue: “What are we encircling? What is encircling us?”
Out the window, the forest answered in stillness.
The weekend’s gaze held a little longer—read a book, limb some trees.