The Leaves of the Catalogue

As we drive into James' work, he says, "You see, the library is very compact. Even some of the furnishings are part of the library's store of knowledge. The library got an updated version of the lamp, so they let me buy it at the yearly book and furniture sale. That lamp contains an example of every known leaf in the world.

"But there is no way to alphabetize it! And other than the pictures, how would you get information out of it?"

"Is alphabetizing data and placing it to words the best way to find out about something?"

I stop short. On one hand, I have to agree with him. There are some things that are best not placed into books and described by words. Too much is lost. But the very purpose of a library is to work with things that could be dealt with in that way. "How do you read the catalogue?"

"It is not a catalogue that you can 'read' in the normal sense. When you get back tonight, stare at one of the leaves. I will be around so that we don't run into the little problem that you had last night. You should start daydreaming, and see other parts of the tree. Then where the tree grows."

"They don't have anything like this at home."

"No. They did not have anything like this at my home, either."

I then, on impulse, start to sing a few lines of a song.

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising in the air...

I turn and ask James "Have you ever heard of it?"

He replies,

1. "Yes, of course."
2. "No."
3. "I have heard the melody many times, but the words are different."

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