Inklings: barricaded against the water
Well, it’s been a soggy week at Inklings. Thursday [before last], we experienced a big rainstorm that was probably the worst I’ve ever driven in. The iPhone was blaring a warning of flash floods and I was eyeing the bridges I’d need to cross to get home. Made it safely and sat in the darkening living room in awe of the production in the skies. Heavy rain, incredible sunset colors, weird light. Wow! No water in the store, but it came within inches of the door.
Store lights reflected on the water on the shop floor
Jim and I had taken a little drive to the Tri-Cities to do something important like buy a dog frisbee– really just an excuse to putter down the road, enjoy each other’s company, stop in Prosser for a coffee, and visit a couple little shops I like, Sister to Sister in Prosser and Melange in Sunnyside. Later, while walking around Columbia Center, I received a slightly frantic phone call from Tamara and Chris back at Inklings. Another cloudburst and the water was rushing from both the Shopko parking lot and the entire higher ground of Chalet Place and was coming under doors and walls, rising rapidly. The quick-thinking staff and dear customers did all they could to divert the water with garbage bags, towels and tables against doors, but the water just kept coming. We ended up with an inch or two covering ¾ of the store, including the offices. Amazingly, we lost no product at all – not even one book, but we spent the week with roaring fans and tropical humidity as Servicemaster dried things out.
Standing water outside the store
Chris, one of our astute booksellers, quickly assembled a list of flood titles: Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, Noah’s Boat by Kregel Books, Rain by Cynthia Barnett, The Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex by Owen Chase, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. [All] these titles [were] 40% off last week just to celebrate that no books were harmed.
Thanks for your concern– we are almost back to normal. And just in time!
Stay cool… and call me if you see a thunderstorm approaching.
–Susan Richmond, owner of Inklings Bookshop, Yakima, WA
This post is adapted from Susan’s post in her store’s newsletter.
