Mary stopped at the table and tenderly touched the cover of Keep On Rolling! Life on the Lefse Trail and Learning to Get a Round. That is the common first move by shoppers here in the Author’s Corner at the Norsk Hostfest in Minot, North Dakota. For book lovers, it is as if the cover is a touchstone from which they draw strength.
“People still love books, maybe even more now than ever,” said Mary. “I have about 200 books in my e-reader, and each book kinda gets lost in the e-reader. I still love a good book. Each book holds so many memories.”
So true. People leave the Author’s Corner loaded with books, and I don’t see this desire to touch and hold a book diminishing. Good news for authors and readers!
The power of touch is especially telling as people come to the table to touch the heirloom lefse rolling pins I brought to the Hostfest. Oh, how they love to feel the smooth finish and hold the honest weight of the lefse rolling pins turned by Jeff Luedloff and Bob Puetz of the Minnesota Woodturners Association. People love their beauty and are thrilled that they can actually be used for rolling lefse. Several have been sold to folks wanting to give them as a wedding or Christmas present.
Speaking of beauty, the sun is rising on crisp, still, sun-washed-prairie morning as I drive to Minot for Day 3 of the Hostfest!