Love Of Reading

 

    Here's an eclectic little collection of some of the books I have.  Three were written by my younger brother, a few are by people I count among my friends.  The small books were given to me either by my daughter or a friend who moved away several years ago, and of course there are a few Dr. Seuss just for fun!

               I know I’ve said it before, but I love reading.  The one good thing about the pandemic and staying home is that I have had lots of time for reading books!  Since the library reopened, I’ve been able to take out stacks of books to enjoy; before I got my new glasses I was taking out the large print editions because it was straining my eyes so much with the old prescription.  My new glasses mean I can read any size print without getting a headache or blurry vision from eye strain.  I don’t like audio books, I prefer to put my own spin on the words, hear the character’s voices in my head and not someone else’s interpretation.  I also prefer turning actual paper pages, so I’m not a fan of reading on a screen.  Although, when Hillary was hospitalized for a month last fall I read a lot on my phone.  You can’t really cart a bag of books around the hospital when you’re caring for a loved one who is quite ill and gets moved from one department to another with some frequency.  So reading on my phone was better than nothing while she was sleeping in between doctors and nurses trying to heal her.  I have some favorite authors who I go back to from time to time, sometimes rereading books because I enjoy them so much.  I also like to try new authors, and occasionally a new genre.  Sometimes I learn something new, or get a new perspective on things.

               Recently I read an older book about 500 years of American history.  It began with how people first appeared on the North American continent.  The most surprising thing I learned was that there was such a thing as giant beavers!  I never heard of them before, they roamed the continent from Florida to Alaska along with mastodons and sabre tooth tigers during the ice age.  They know this because of bones archeologists found.  I had no idea, and when I told my husband, he was not surprised and immediately found a picture of them online, as if it was something he looked up every day.  It seems as if they were about the size of one of our current black bears.  What I found frightening is imagining how large and sharp their teeth would be, and what large dams they would build.  Can you imagine the size of their flat, wide beaver tails?  Wow! The rest of the book didn’t offer much insight into anything else it discussed—the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, JFK’s assassination, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, and the story of the Mayans among other mysteries of history.  It was interesting and nice to step away from my usual diet of murder mysteries. 

               Currently I’m reading a book that was my mother’s.  It’s “James Herriot’s Dog Stories”, a collection of his short stories having to do with dogs he encountered in his veterinary practice in Darrowby, England.  It’s a book I’ve read before, and it’s a comfortable positive group of stories that is perfect with my morning tea at the beginning of the day.  I’m also working my way through “The Pen Commandments” by Steven Frank, which is a guide for beginning writers but I’m using it as a nice way to review basic grammar and writing techniques.  It’s not as dry as a text book as he illustrates his points with stories from his classroom and students.  It’s good to pick up when I have a few minutes.  I have a book in my next to be read pile that I just bought, it’s a thriller by an author I am unfamiliar with—Paula McLain—and the title is “When the Stars Go Dark”. I can’t wait to have time to start it, maybe this afternoon.  I love the delicious anticipation of a new book to read!

               Reading has always been a pleasure for me, and a favorite way to spend some free time.  Losing myself in a book is also like a little vacation for my mind and a great way to step away from some of the everyday worries we all seem to have as our constant companions. With nice weather finally here, I can combine it with spending time outside—perfect!

        Some flowers I planted in pots, and my little collection of garden friends that I keep on the shelf on the deck rather than in a garden since we garden in pots because it's less work.  Yup, a little lazy here!  I like to relax on the deck with a book and a cool drink on hot summer afternoons.

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.

Gifts

          We’ve just experienced the time of year we typically think about gifts.  Gifts we have to give, gifts we receive, ones we like, and ones we don’t.  It’s nice to give and receive a gift, but what about the ones we give each other that aren’t tangible?  Such as the feeling we give someone, or someone gives us or wisdom we receive from someone older or more experienced than we are.  Some of those aren’t noticeable until years later, such as the gifts our parents give us over the course of our lives.

          My parents gave me many gifts throughout my life. They gave me the gift of being safe and cared for.  I had a happy childhood filled with laughter and family.  There were 6 of us in the tiny house we lived in, and we learned how to share and get along.  My parents gave us a stable home life, a refuge to return to when school and later work was too stressful.  My parents gave me the love of reading.  The newspaper, magazines, and books were read daily in our house. I have fond memories of my younger brother and I snuggled up with our mother while she read stories to us, and my father reading me fairy tales and doing the voices of the different characters.  Little Red Riding Hood was one of my favorites to read with Dad as he did a great Big Bad Wolf voice.  My love of mysteries comes from reading the mysteries my father enjoyed once I was a little older.  I cannot imagine any greater gifts than the ones my parents gave me.

          The gift of friendship is important for getting through life; as important as family.  In fact, many people have friends with whom they feel a closer bond than with blood relatives.  We choose our friends, and this is maybe why we can form such strong bonds.  We form friendships usually starting with a shared experience whether it is a shared love of grapes for snack in elementary school, dislike of a certain class in high school, or eating lunch at the same time at work.  Whatever brings us together, we find in each other something we like, it feels good to be together and confide in each other.  We come to count on each other to help us celebrate the joys life brings us and commiserate over the sorrows.  The gift of friendship is one of the best one person can give to another.

          Sometimes we get caught up in the stresses of trying to get the “right” gift for someone we love.  In truth, the best gift you can give someone is your time, and your attention. Presents wrapped in pretty paper with bows are nice, but probably when all is said and done what you’ll remember most are the intangibles that you have received. Whether that means memories of how someone always made you laugh, or how connected you felt to another person, good feelings are the greatest gift of all. In other words, love.

Reading

I love to read, always have and always will. I love a good story! As a child I spent many hot summer days either in the coolness of the library reading & picking out books or laying on a towel in the yard reading. I especially enjoyed all of Louisa  May Alcott's books and Laura Ingalls Wilder's reading them over and over so many times I lost count. I loved books about horses reading "Black Beauty" and "Misty of Chincoteague" multiple times. These days I'm more likely to read either a murder/mystery or a novel although I take occasional forays into life after death. Those collections of inspirational stories such as "Chicken Soup for the Soul" can also be found on my book shelves. I've just always loved books; and words. I love alliteration and rhymes yet rarely do I read poetry. I prefer to write my own although scraps of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" occasionally run through my mind, and I can still recite "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer.  Books; stories; have a way of taking me out of my routine life and giving my worries a rest. Reading at the park is an especially good routine buster for me. Of course on a cold winter weekend afternoon there's not much that beart curling up with a blanket and a good book.  There are those who prefer non fiction or a biography, and while those can be interesting I prefer to leave reality behind and go along with an author's imagination. Whatever you like to read, give yourself a little vacation and open up a book. You're bound to feel refreshed and have a slightly new perspective on things.

PBJ & Comfort Reading

Sometimes you just need some comfort. There’s nothing like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a big glass of ice cold milk for lunch when you’re having one of those days.  For me the jelly must be grape, which some might find odd since I grew up on peanutbutter and strawberry jelly sandwiches in my lunch bag.  Some of my fondest memories of my high school friend Maureen involve that sandwich.  I didn’t eat lunch at lunch time; I was far too busy having fun laughing and talking to my friends to eat anything!  So as Maureen and I walked the mile home we split my sandwich; even if it was raining or snowing we usually walked home.  My mother never had grape jelly in the house.  I don’t know why, but my maternal grandmother, Mama, always had homemade grape jelly on her table.  I remember sneaking spoons of it when we were at her house and wishing I could have it at home.  I never asked why we didn’t have it at home as far as I remember.  I’m curious now as to what my mother’s aversion to grape jelly might have come from.  I’ll never know but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying it!  Sometimes on the weekend my husband and I have pbj for lunch and I always have a glass of ice cold milk with it.  Even just thinking about it makes me feel cozy and comforted somehow.

Sometimes I want something comforting but not food.  That’s when I turn to books.  Recently my adult daughter and I went to the library together.  I went to a club meeting there and she found solace from a stressful day at work in the quiet among the books.  I nearly stumbled over her as I browsed the fiction section after my meeting ended as she sat on the floor at the end of a row with a small stack of books next to her.  Feeling a little stressed myself I headed for my fall back authors.  I decided on two short books by Rosamund Pilcher and one by Janet Evanovich.  The short books I’ve read many times.  I find it comforting to reread books that I particularly enjoy and Ms. Pilcher’s books have an especially cozy appeal for me as they take place in Scotland and London and the characters drink tea and sit by fires in wool sweaters throughout the stories.  It’s hard to explain but I like it.  The Janet Evanovich I hadn’t read before but I enjoy her Stephanie Plum series as they take place in New Jersey and the characters and plots make me laugh out loud as I read. 

We all need to have food and activities that bring us comfort, even if we don’t realize that is why we enjoy them time and again.  I can hardly wait for the weekend so I can curl up in the couch corner with a pbj sandwich, a glass of milk and a comforting book.