You know, change happens all the time. You’d think that at 45, I’d be used to it by now, but I still find it hard. But, often it happens because it has to. Such is the case for my knitting group, which had been happily knitting away at our local Borders bookstore for the last three years.
Sadly, our Borders was one of the ones set to close with the company’s announced restructuring. We’ll miss it, for sure. The staff there was always friendly and accommodating, and there was never a shortage of knitting books and magazines nearby to encourage discussion or the starting of new projects, or the learning of new techniques. Over time our group grew from just a few regulars to more than 20 at most meetups, and no one on the Borders staff ever said we were taking up too much room, or too loud. In fact, another customer complained about us once to the staff, and that person told the customer in no uncertain terms that our group was always welcome and good for business! It was a rare and good situation.
But, move on, we must. So, we’ve started meeting in our local shopping mall food court. It has advantages and disadvantages. Food is a plus, or a minus, depending on which side of the scale you’re standing on; and the ability to spread out is also a plus or a minus. It’s easier to take up more room in the food court than it was in the cafe, which is helpful for working on larger projects, and there’s never a shortage of tables and chairs. But more space also means less intimacy, and I’m not as fond of feeling a little farther apart from my friends.
Then there’s the issue of the loud video jukebox in the food court, which I suppose is a source of easy cash for the mall (but does anyone actually use it, or is it just there, being loud?). I could do without that. But, the space is open and easy, centrally located, and free. Not to mention probably good business for the mall. I saw lots of our group making food purchases all throughout our meetup. So, while not our cozy little bookstore cafe, it’ll work for now.
I just hope, as someone who’s not a huge fan of change, that I’ll get used to it. At least I’ve got all my friends in it with me:
Speaking of change…
I’ve been playing with the format of the blog a bit. I was going to do something completely different, and I may still, but instead I upgraded my theme and redid the color scheme a little. I swear, one of these days, I’m really going to LEARN wordpress and how it works. It sure seems like the design possibilities are practically endless, and I’d love to challenge my brain a little. That is, if I could work up the energy…
Until then, I’ll just keep knitting.
, which, I thought, was an exquisite collection of patterns.
