Sundays And Books

Sleepy Sunday morning,

Rain drips from the trees,

Lazy thoughts are mingled,

With gossamer threads of dreams,

Wisps of steam rise, curling,

From hot brew in a cup,

Cozy feelings all around,

On Sunday morning waking up.

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     Sunday mornings of my youth were not relaxing. We were all (my brothers and I) up early, breakfasted, dressed, and dropped off at the church for 9:30 Sunday school. Dad dropped us off, while Mom got ready and then drove to the church in time for choir warm up. Dad didn't attend church; I'm not sure what he did while we were all out of the house besides listen to country music. He was alone in his love of that genre, and it was his chance to listen to it outside of the basement where he spent much time tinkering with radios and old TVs, and probably reading paperbacks. His favorites were mysteries and westerns, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Louie L’Amour are authors names I recall seeing at our house. I think that his choices influenced both my love of reading, and my tendency to read mysteries and stories set in the Midwest with horses and cowboy characters. I don't think he got his books from the library, as I don't recall him ever going inside ours. Rather, there always seemed to be a paper bag of paperback books around the house. Maybe he got them from a friend, or one of my aunts. I never questioned it; it's just something that always was. It’s funny how we often don’t question things that were in our growing up houses.  They were just there, part of who we all were and would become later in life, influencing us by their mere presence.

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Library

I really miss the library,

Meandering through the stacks

Of books, each one enticing,

With covers both colorful and black,

Promising to dazzle me

With words and clever phrases,

To teach and entertain me,

As I read through story mazes,

Alas! They are all closed,

Due to this ugly virus,

One day they will reopen,

To teach and entertain us.

          I have been missing the library.  It is one of my favorite places to spend a little time.  The smell of the books, the rows of colorful covers creating a mosaic of temptation; I want to touch them, run my fingertips along them as I meander through the stacks.  It’s so enjoyable to read the titles, pick which ones to check out, and sample a little of the first page before deciding.  I usually limit myself to 3 at a time because under normal circumstances I don’t have a lot of time to read. 

          On the last day I worked before things started closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I stopped at the library on the way home and checked out a stack of books, as many as I could carry.  I should have taken a bag with me, but it was a decision I made at work so wasn’t prepared.  My thinking was that since the schools were closed, the library would likely also have to close and I didn’t want to end up with time to read but nothing new to dive into.  Initially it was to be a 2 week closing of the schools, but as it turns out, it’s to be 5 ½ months. I don’t think the library will be opening any time soon, so far it’s been 2 months and there doesn’t seem to be an end date in sight.  I do spend quite a bit of time reading as I find it a wonderful way to escape the grim and crazy news reports on all media.  It took about 3 weeks for me to read through my initial stack, and I was going to start rereading the books I have around the house, but my daughter started bringing me stacks of books from her bookcase that she got at one of the library’s book sales.  How wonderful!  I should be good with books for a while.  I know I could have read e-books, but I don’t enjoy them as much as the “old fashioned” paper kind.  The look, the smell, the feel of a book is intoxicating to me; it’s all part of experiencing a story.

          If you are a reader, and find yourself not working during this life changing time of life, I wish you many books.