The second of my Goodwill finds is The Lorax, a book I’ve wavered on buying from Target for some time now. Back in elementary school, we went somewhere for a Dr. Seuss day celebration and I got this pocket-sized copy of The Lorax, possibly my favorite of his books. In the years since, I’ve lost that copy and have not been able to find a similarly-sized copy. I’m starting to think I made up the whole story. But I knew I wasn’t spending full-retail, which is $15, for the full-sized version. $2.99, however, was a passable amount. It was even the “earth-friendly” edition from “The Lorax project.” What I didn’t notice, until exiting the Goodwill was that this was potentially a gift somebody had given to their significant other, since taped inside are two pieces of paper, one reading “a kiss is a secret told to the mouth instead of the ear” and another “the sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.” I’m lost as to what these are from, as they look almost like candy wrappers, and I’m assuming it’s the quotations in different languages above and below it. But I can’t think of any other explanation aside from this was a special gift to somebody’s special someone.
Anyway, The Lorax still holds up and I’m overjoyed to add it to my collection. Aside from those things taped to the inside of the front cover, the copy is in great condition, which you so rarely see at thrift stores. That gets me thinking more about the previous owner, whether they’d cherished it, if only briefly, or if they’d donated it almost instantly, resulting in its condition. Whatever the case may be, it feels poetic almost that I got a used copy of the “earth-friendly” edition of The Lorax from Goodwill. No more trees had to be cut down for this one! And the message of The Lorax rings truer now than ever before, with the climate crisis causing heat waves around the world. I literally canceled my pick-up order at the Lancaster Target for a plant pot because I didn’t want to make an extra trip in the 90+ degree heat this past weekend. I made one quick trip to the nearby Target for essentials on Saturday, but it wasn’t until we went out the next day to Lititz to see Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (begrudgingly; no theaters closer were showing it) that I left the confines of our air conditioned apartment.
We’re probably past the point where us folks simply caring “a whole awful lot” is going to cause noteworthy change – since it’s the people like the narrator, the ones in power, who are causing the bulk of the damage and there’s no making them listen it seems – but it surely wouldn’t hurt. Who knows, maybe if enough of us speak up, we can at least stave off a full-blown climate apocalypse? Please?
