Library Love

This is one of the libraries in my home town in Wisconsin. I took this picture on a recent vacation as a reminder of one of my "great" acts of teenage rebellion.

In my early teens, my parents still had me taking swim lessons. It was probably so I had some physical exercise since I wasn't very sporty, but I was completely tired of them. I knew how to swim and was being pushed to do things like diving that terrified me. So, when my dad would drop me off for lessons, I would watch his car drive away, then walk to the library which was on the other side of an open field/park from the pool. I would spend my lesson time reading and then walk back, wet my hair and my suit and wait to be picked up.

My parents never found out. I almost got caught one time - I was in the middle of that open field walking back to the pool and my parents were driving by on their way home before my dad would come back for me. They didn't see me and my secret was safe for over 20 years until I finally confessed. My father still looks at me and shakes his head every time we drive by the library when I am home for a visit.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty pathetic attempt at rebellion. I got "better" at it when I was a little older. But I always laugh when I think about the library as my safe haven at that point in my life.... That really hasn't changed, either.