The book flies away

Well, it hasn't flown away quite yet. But it will, to western Canada, as soon as Pondside sends me her address.

I'm speaking, of course, of the well-traveled little book that Babaloo found on an airplane and subsequently sent on to me. Almost 20 of you volunteered to read it and send it on; I put your names in a hat (actually, a blue bowl) and Pondside was the winner.

Then I wondered what to do next. Should I start a list on my sidebar? And ask Pondside to send the book to the top name on the list? And that person could send it to the second name? And on and on and on?

That appealed to the Control Freak in me. (I'm sure it will surprise all of you to find out that I secretly harbor controlling tendencies.) I could determine the order of who would get the book next. I could sit back and watch as it traveled around the world.

But that didn't seem to be in the spirit of the wandering book. So I consulted Babaloo. She is smarter than I am, or possibly just less controlling. She said we should give the book its freedom. Send it on, she said, and let that person determine where it goes after that.

It gives people the choice to maybe pass it on to someone who doesn't have a blog, a relative or a friend, she wrote. Maybe we can just say that the one condition is that they do send it on and that they post about it on their blog when they do? So maybe we can still track it for a little while.

So Pondside, here's what we ask: Accept the book. Read it. Enjoy it!

And then send it on, exotic boarding passes intact, to whomever you choose. And if you want to let us know who you send it to, we'd all love to know.