Ex Libris

A couple of days ago, I was looking to pick up my daily cache. I usually go north or west for that, sometimes east. But I decided to do something a little different. I opted to go south across the river that divides Austin instead. For some reason (probably because of having to pass through downtown), I avoid going south of the river, but this time it was very worth it. I noticed a few caches I hadn’t gotten that were not too far, but I opted against them because they were in high-traffic areas, and I just wasn’t in the mood for that. I noticed a Multi-cache and began to pass on it for the same reason, but I recognized its location and couldn’t resist. While it isn’t a standing thing for the Austin Public Library system, at least a few branches have librarian-approved caches, and when I find a library with one, I go for it! When I arrived, I refilled my water bottle and walked around the back of the building. There I found, in its rusted glory, Prometheus (not the Modern Prometheus, mind you) reaching up for the sky. I felt a little bad as I began to root around in his exposed innards until I found the hidden redirector. I felt a small jar in his hip and pulled it out, revealing one of Mr. Dewey’s classification codes. I temporarily committed it to memory and then replaced the jar where I found it before returning inside. I wandered about the stacks for a bit, annoyed at the number of books, mostly youth-oriented, that didn’t even use the Dewey system (but not that annoyed since the Dewey Decimal System has its own significant controversies) until I came to the right set of shelves. I walked down to the correct number and beheld at knee level a book with no title on its spine stuck among the others. I knew without checking that it would be my quarry.

And it was! No muss, no fuss. I signed the log and replaced the book with nobody nearby any the wiser. As I walked back into range of Apollo’s spear, I pulled out my phone and finished logging it. My work there was done, and another library cache had been trodden beneath my metaphorically sandaled feet.