Sitting On a Rock, Thinking

(This from my 2011 book of the same name.)



        It was the perfect spot where I could go and be alone and think.  A not-yet-developed area near our house, with big rocks strewn here and there. My favorite was a huge boulder on a hill that took some work to climb.  But the view was worth it.

        What was I thinking about then?  About writing a book.  While being published in magazines and newspapers for many years, my real aspiration was to put out a book.

        Lo and behold, this did come to pass.  In addition to wanting to be an author of a book, or books, was a desire to have them in free public libraries.  Growing up in Dallas, Texas, I was a regular user of our local library, where I would bring home as many books as they'd let me check out.  My parents couldn't afford to buy me books.  Moreover, in later years, I had benefited from my time spent in many of these institutions, especially the world-class Boston Public Library.  One day the thought occurred, wouldn't it be exciting to have a book of mine on library shelves some day.

        And beyond my wildest, not only are my books in libraries all across the USA, but they're in these places as well, in permanent collections.  Some of the foreign (to me) spots on the globe that I've heard from thus far, in no particular order:

Santiago, Chile
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Leicester, England
Lyon, France
Okinawa, Japan
Stirling, Scotland
Newcastle, Australia
Bucharest, Romania
Riga, Latvia
Macao, China
Noumea, New Caledonia
Port Adelaide, Australia
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Wenjiang, China
Kuala Lumpur, Malalysia
Hiroshima, Japan
London, England
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Osaka, Japan
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Seoul, Korea
Cork, Ireland
Valleta, Malta
Aberystwyth, Wales
Katowice, Poland
Orkney Islands, Scotland
Inverclyde, Scotland
Isle of Man
Warsaw, Poland
Cardiff, Wales
Budapest, Hungary
Sskatchewan, Canada
Tokyo, Japan
Lincoln, England
Canberra Australia
Glasgow, Scotland
Dunedin, New Zealand
Newfoundland, Canada
Hangzhou, China
Thessalonika, Greece
Guadalajar, Mexico
Livingston, Scotland
Liverpool, England
Alexandria, Egypt
Tallin, Estonia
Yerevan, Armenia
Nagasaki, Japan
Copenhagen, Denmark
Prague, Czech Republic
Barcelona, Spain
Wellington, New Zealand
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Ontario, Canada
Clackmanshire, Scotland
Aberdeen, Scotland
Rekyavik, Iceland
Dublane, Scotland
Hong Kong, China
Pusan, Korea
Paris, France
Devon, England
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dundee, Scotland
Ottawa, Canada
Nicosia, Cypress
Fife, Scotland
Manilla, the Philippines
Lisbon, Portugal
Raratonga, Cook Islands
Edinburgh, Scotland
Windhoek, Namibia
Cymru, Wales
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bejing, China
Ballerup, Denmark
Shanghai, China
Thimpu, Kingdom of Bhutan
Queensland, Australia
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Hamilton, Scotland
Bogota, Colombia
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tblisi, Georgia
Inverness, Scotland
Limerick, Ireland
Bridgetown, Barbados
Nanjing, China
Kintillock, Scotland
Hamilton, New Zealand
Goa, India
Hagatna, Guam
Vienna, Austria
Singapore
Lalitpur, Nepal
the Marianas Islands
Gateshead, England
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Verona, Italy
Chisinau, Moldova
Medellin, Colombia
San Jose, Costa Rica
The Hague, the Netherlands
Suva, Fiji Islands
Milan, Italy
Naples, Italy
Lautoka, Fiji Islands
Moscow, Russia
Trieste, Italy
Minsk, Belarus
Kobenhaven, Denmark
Floriana, Malta
Tauranga, New Zealand
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dublin, Ireland


Talk about your expanding horizons!