“How long is forever?" asks Alice. The White Rabbit: “Sometimes, just one second.” ~Lewis Carroll

That is how I found it, after being invited to come to the White Rabbit Books and Curiosities just around a corner on the river walk in Durango, Colorado. I turned the corner wondering where it was and almost missed it. As I left the parking lot, I could already feel the tug of something new and so very different. As a bibliophile, I could not resist the pull of books unknown to me. It was like driving on Main Street next to the Jean Pierre bakery van and having a steaming loaf of French bread thrown through the window to land in your lap. Of course, you immediately went to a store to buy butter and then to tear it into pieces and butter and eat it. What else could I do, the books beckoned me.

I met Keena and Jason before the idea of their own bookstore had been firmly planted, perhaps as it was being born when they visited the quirky bookstore that I owned. I fell in love with the vintage clothes and intelligence of this wonderful couple. I became a bookstore booster and awaited the opening of the White Rabbit even while closing my own store. There cannot be too many used bookstores in a town. As I walked slowly on the river walk, I looked at the river rolling along, the trees marbling the sidewalk, a bike rider who almost ran me down and then I saw the nook in front of the store. The dappled front windows and bench begged me to sit for a minute and allow my gaze to travel up the stairs and into the shop. I sat. The windows reflected the river and the prayer flags flapped in the wind. Every window had so much color and there were books there. Flashes of color, reflections of leaves and water turned the little bookstore into an invitation to a magical world of knowledge and amazement.

The nook has not gotten larger over the years I have visited there. It has not materially changed, but it has brought so much joy and wonder into the lives of many Durangotans. I am positive that I am not alone in my love for both the store and the people who have brought it to the status it enjoys in the town it provides for. It reminds me often that, forever may be only one second, especially if it is spent at the White Rabbit. By Ann Perkins-Parrot, Durango, CO