Next up is a book by Maira Kalman (illustrator, author, designer, fellow lover of found objects, and a personal hero of mine): Next Stop Grand Central.
"There is a place in New York City that is the busiest, fastest, biggest place there is. It is a train station. This place is called Grand Central.. It's not called grand for nothing!"
Ms. Kalman takes us behind the scenes of Grand Central station, showing all the people that work there. Ed changes the light bulbs, Etha delivers the mail, Marino makes oyster stew at the Oyster Bar, and Dave makes sure the trains are on time.
So many people going so many places. Ms. Kalman writes, "Trains are trips. And trips are adventures. And adventures are new ideas and romance and you can't ever know what in the world will happen which is exactly why you are going."
The endpapers show the mural of constellations which makes up the ceiling over the grand concourse. I used to sit and stare at this as long as I could before rushing off to catch my train. A magical place indeed.