It sure is nice to dream

Have you ever had a dream or an idea that was so vivid you just can't imagine your life without it? A long time ago, I had an idea that I would open a little bookshop. It would have a café and people could sit, enjoy their coffee and read a book.

Coincidentally, one of my favourite places to take my laptop to and write is a bookshop café, bit mine, now that I think about it, wouldn't have been all that small. There would have been a floor or section for new books and another for second hand books, because second hand books need love too! There also would have been a backroom or two that could have been used as classrooms for writing workshops, language classes, book clubs or homework groups. I hadn't thought about this in years. It's the kind if thing you might see in cities with three of four storied terrace houses and Melbourne never struck me as the type. Anyway, finances would never put me in a position to follow such a dream, so I put that dream to bed, tucked it away in a box in the back of my mind and forgot about it.

Until Saturday. We were driving back from the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie where we had just attended their "Strawberry Affair," a celebration of all things strawberry, when I saw it. The perfect place for just such a dream. Maybe even a little bigger with space for an apartment for me and maybe even a couple of small studio apartments suitable for writer's retreats.

It was this old, boarded up pub, maybe on the outskirts of Lilydale (not even a hundreds percent sure that where it was, but definitely along the Maroondah Highway!) It was the quintessential Australian pub in every way. It might have even been a country local before urban sprawl. I was driving, so I don't have my pictures and we didn't stop to investigate. I mean, why would we? It was just an old boarded up pub, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It was the older, two storey kind that probably had hotel rooms or rentable larger rooms for events on the second floor, so plenty of space for the book shop and café (maybe a wine bar in the evenings for you late night reading fix), apartment/s and classrooms. A destination bookstore with a tonne of local history to boot. Such a thing would be truly magical I think! Maybe one day when I've signed a movie deal for my books and there's merchandise in the stores! Until then, it sure is nice to dream.