It's a stormy day here on the Oregon coast and the store is packed. There are people camped out in all the corners, surrounded by books. They blow on in, door crashing in the wind, the wood floor spotted with drops from raincoats.

We just had some letterboxers come in from New Mexico.

One of them, Tom Church, told me his grandmother, Ruth Bush Jones, was the creator of Smokey the Bear!

When he comes back after lunch I'll get the whole story.

Yes, we have a letterbox hidden in the store, and a geocache. See www.letterboxing.org and www.geocaching.com for more info.

A cute little Gund bear is going off to England today, to Billingham, close to Middlesborough. Lucky little guy!

I just read a fascinating book by Penelope Evans called "Freezing".

Someone brought it in for trade and I started reading it because it said "Quirky to the hilt" (yes, I sometimes fall for blurbs). I could barely get my work done then took it home and finished it.

She's not in print here in the states so I Googled her. Turns out she has a sort of cult following in the UK.