Bird Attack! (Alfred Hitchcock was right!)

I was at the library minding my own business with my attention tuned to my laptop when I heard a tapping noise. I turned my head to see a feathery attacker just outside the window!

I don't know what this bird's issue was, but when it saw me staring at it, it glared back fearlessly.

When it turned its beak skyward, I wondered if it was summoning reinforcements. (How many birds would it take to break a window? I know it's possible, with their sharp beaks and pointy toenails. Put enough of those together with a flying leap behind them, and put up your laptop to deflect shattering glass!)

It was all a ruse. This feathered creature was such a force unto itself that I actually feared to step outside alone.

My fear may have stemmed from my older babysitting sister offering to let me, at 10 years old, to stay up late and watch a movie with her on television while the other children slept. (Or, as it turned out later for my two brothers, hide behind the couch to watch anyway.) The title of the movie?

The Birds!

 Did you ever watch Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds?" 

(If not, you can click the title and watch it online... if you dare! I kept covering my eyes with a blanket, so maybe I should give it a grown-up try.)

Mystery Books Like You've Never Seen Before!

Snow College Library was full of mystery last semester as they covered some of their books in brown paper, leaving only vague clues on the front as to the contents. 

I checked a couple of them out just to see what they were about. One was a book I'd read before, called, "Quiet." (The clue? "Shhh.") The other was a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories! Being a fan, I read those with delight. (Clue: a drawing of footprints and a magnifying glass on the brown paper!)
Are you the kind of person who would take a chance on a paper covered book? Or do you like to be certain of what you're getting?

RETURN TO SENDER

I was surprised to get my package returned in the mail. Did I say package? I meant the LID of the package. Not even the whole lid. Just a sawn-off part of it.
What does the Post Office DO with boxes of books? Practice their shot-put throws? Use them for driving range cones? Open them to read during slow times?
It made me laugh to read stamped on the lid: "RECEIVED WITHOUT CONTENTS." Did they only get the top? Or did they receive a whole empty box? They sent papers to fill out for a search of the lost articles, especially if I included titles and soft or hard covers if they were books, but I don't know how they'd round up two dozen books destined for donation to a neighborhood library effort in Missouri.
I'm just glad this didn't happen to the prize necklace I sent to Tonya Dean, although she did say it looked like the package had been opened and resealed. (But the bow on the gift wrap was intact!)
I must say, I personally love my local Post Office workers. They even came in after hours to retrieve a galley I needed to edit over a weekend. But accidents happen. So if you'd like to help the grass roots Missouri library, please send any books you're finished with to STEVE WESTOVER/re. library, 5124 NW Holly Dr., KIDDER, MO 64649. Encase your box in concrete and ask the nice Post Office people for the media mail discount.
How do you feel about having access to a library? How would it change your life if you didn't have one?