Saunter and Shoot

The holiday season got off to a gentle start in the charming Fairhaven neighborhood of Bellingham today, far away from the mall.

P and I took Miss Annie, our dowager Australian Shepherd, with us this afternoon to stroll through Fairhaven before the evening festivities began. Festooned with cameras, we wandered through several shops, including our favorite, Village Books, where Miss Annie had a dog treat from our friend C, who works there. (Enjoy that happy encounter and several more inside Village Books, a few more photos of P and Miss Annie, and a couple of street scenes here).

She also had a treat at the Whatcom Humane Society's Paws Awhile eclectic gift shop while I dropped off a few donations, and was petted and fussed over by half a dozen or more people as we strolled.

The holiday season starts for me when I see Village Books' Giving Tree. For the past 16 years, Village Books has put up a tree in the front of the store with angel-shaped gift tags that say "girl, 3" or "boy, 7," covering a wide range of ages, right into the teens.

You choose one of the gift tags -- or several -- and then select age-appropriate books, which are discounted 20% by Village Books. You have the option of returning the tags to the tree with a message to the recipient, such as "Love from the Book Granny" (that's what I write -- it's the nickname my grandchildren gave me) or "Merry Christmas" or "Enjoy your new book," and so on.

Books were my refuge and my joy as a child, and still are. There are many kindred spirits here -- last year, thanks to the generosity of our community, Village Books was able to give books to more than 2,000 needy children, working with a dozen local nonprofit organizations.

I hope we can meet the need again this year.

(The fellow on the right in the photo is Dirty Dan Harris, the founder of Fairhaven. This bronze scuplture by Robert McDermott is on the Fairhaven Village Green, behind Village Books.)