Journalist and photographer Andy Isaacson, who chose his profession because of an innate obsession to see the world, has realized his dream.
He has been to every country and region on the globe, including both the north and south poles. But when his friend recently asked him what a place smelled like, he stumbled on his answer. While he’d taken thousands of pictures and could tell you exactly what the Taj Mahal looked like at dawn, he’d been so focused on the visual aspects of the places he’d been that he hadn’t really experienced them.
So, he decided to join visually impaired (VI) travelers on a trip to India.
The idea of VI travel is to pair the sighted with the visually impaired so that the sighted can share what they see and the visually impaired can share what they sense.
Isaacson was awestruck by what he learned. Experiencing the world with sight, he said, is like watching the movie. Experiencing the world while visually impaired, he said, is like reading the book. More than likely, the book is better.
I couldn’t help but smile at this analogy. For me, well-written books provide both rich description of the seen, blended with sensory details of sounds, smell and taste, leaving just enough gap for my imagination to fill in the blanks. The result is deeply personal. What you read is not what I read, not entirely. And that’s what makes reading so magical.
My appreciation for the sensory nature of writing flows over into my own travel journals. “Reykjavik restrooms make O’Hare look like a day spa,” I write. “Lima smells like fish.” “There is a solemn hush and the air is damp and chill as returning G.I.’s file through the Hanoi Hilton.”
I wish you a summer full of travel adventures, experienced with all your senses. May you always travel by the book.
To listen to the full podcast of Isaacson’s experience, search for “Sites Unseen: What’s Revealed by Traveling with the Blind” from the New York Times Daily podcast.
Library to be closed June 15-21 for moving days
It’s almost time to move into the new addition and vacate the old section for renovations.
We’re hoping it will only take a week, but please be patient with us if we take a little longer.
If all goes well, we’ll be open again on June 22 and you’ll be parking in the new south-side parking lot and walking through the new front entrance on the west side of the building.
The children’s room will be all set up and we’ll be ready to plant a garden out back. We’ll have public computers, and resume copy, scan and fax service. And, we will have a meeting room for you to reserve.
Watch our calendar to see what summer programs are in the new library and what is being held out in the community. We’re going to have a lot going on this summer.
If you are strong enough to help set up shelving, box up books and shelve our collections, we need you. Please reach out to Judy at the library, (970) 264-2205 to schedule a shift. And if you have any sturdy, clean, medium-sized boxes you can provide for the move, we would love to have them. Just bring them by, broken down, if possible.
Adopt-a-Tree Program
We have 26 new trees planned for our outdoor community garden, and you could put your name on one of them in exchange for a $500 donation. Individuals, families, clubs, businesses and organizations are welcome to participate.
Interested? Here’s how to get started: Write a check to Ruby Sisson Library or donate online at https://www.pagosalibrary.org. Fill out a donation form telling us what you want your garden stake to say in six words or less. Forms are available on our website or in paper form at the library.
Thanks for helping us create a beautiful new outdoor space in our community.
Summer Reading Program underway
Between June 1 and Aug. 30, summer readers can track their reading on the Beanstack app, complete bingo activity challenges and attend free events at the library and across the community.
With our ongoing construction project and reduced programming space, we’ll be hosting some events at places like Yamaguchi Park, Chimney Rock National Monument, the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park and more. These field trips are for all ages and any entry admission will be covered by the library.
We’ll have a whole lineup of “Read Wild!” themed events in addition to our standing offerings for children, teens and adults. You can visit pagosalibrary.org/summer for more details.
Citizenship classes
The citizenship classes will be taking a summer break June 9-16.
Colorado Parks Passes for checkout
The weather is perfect to get outside. Colorado state parks require a paid pass to enter, but you can borrow one from the library for a few days at no cost to you.
Passes come with a backpack filled with nature guides, binoculars and fun activities. Reserve yours today.
Meet us out in the community
Now that we have much less space for our operations and no meeting rooms during construction, several of our regular activities and special events are happening in other locations.
Please check the listings in this column and on your library’s website, pagosalibrary.org, for location changes throughout the construction. If no other location is mentioned, the activity will stay at your library.
Activities calendars
Pick up monthly calendars at the library or check the website, www.pagosalibrary.org/events-calendar, so you don’t miss any of the free programs, events and activities available to you and your family.
Writers Guild
Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m., Ruby’s Writers Guild welcomes writers looking for support, guidance, resources and camaraderie with other writers at this free gathering.
During construction the group will meet at the Archuleta Senior Center, 451 Hot Springs Blvd. Enter through the left side of the building.
Tech Time
Free in-person slots are available from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays. Taylor helps with basic questions relating to computers, smartphones and tablets, and also provides assistance in accessing the library’s online resources. No appointment is needed, but please bring your device’s charger and passwords with you.
New books collections brimming with interesting titles
For a full list of new titles and to reserve your copy, go to www.pagosalibrary.org and choose “Search the Catalog” at the top of the screen.
Don’t forget, if there is a waiting list for the book, it may be available now as an e-book or e-audiobook on CloudLibrary or Libby.
New nonfiction
• In “Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family and the World,” bestselling author Gabriel Sherman tells the inside story of the epic family war, one whose seeds were planted a half century ago in Australia when the patriarch Robert left his homeland and formed the media empire that controlled Fox News.
• In “Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and the New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being,” TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi presents an eye-opening investigation into the impact technology and sedentary living has had on our bodies and our brains and how we can reclaim our health.
• “Pope Leo XIV: the Biography.” Elise Ann Allen, journalist and Rome correspondent for Crux writes this intimate new biography of Pope Leo XIV, including his first-ever public interview as pope. Timely in the wake of Leo’s controversial new encyclical, “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.”
New fiction books
• “Sometimes an Island” follows the descendants of 10-year-old Deborah and her father, who have fled the persecution of the Cossacks, landing on a remote island on Maine’s Penobscot Bay, seeking refuge and a new beginning.
• “The Midnight Train,” the sequel to “The Midnight Library” by bestselling author Matt Haig, uses time travel to ask if Wilbur, years later on the brink of his death, can return to days past and repair the damage done to his marriage.
• Prolific western writer Craig Johnson is back with “The Brothers McKay,” the 22nd murder mystery in the beloved Longmire Series.
New in large print
• Fort William First Nation tribal member Tanya Talaga’s new book, “The Knowing: How the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples Continues to Echo Today,” explores Canada’s reconciliation with Indigenous peoples after decades of oppressive government- and church-sanctioned policies.
• Spiritual teacher, television personality and former Philadelphia public defender Iyanla Vanzant provides a guidebook to living wholly in “Spiritual Hygiene: A Practical Path for Clean Living, Inner Authority, and Divine Freedom.”
• “All My Bones,” book number two in the Old Juniper Bookshop mystery series, follows Madeline Brimley as she discovers a buried body outside the walls of her new bookstore.
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