“The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods.”
Today will be on and off cloudy. It is 40˚ which is warm enough. The sun will make an appearance, but I don’t care one way or the other. I’ll adjust. Besides, the sun isn’t warm anymore. It is mostly a backdrop.
The moon last night was huge and beautiful, and I could easily see the face of the man in the moon. He was smiling.
I don’t know if kids read nursery rhymes anymore. I know my mother read them to me all the time so when I wrote about last night’s moon Hey Diddle Diddle jumped into my head. I never questioned how a cow could jump over the moon or whether a cat could really play a fiddle or a dog laugh, but I did wonder why the dish ran away with spoon.
When I was a kid, my mother read Treasure Island to my brother and me at bedtime. I remember not wanting to go to bed and wanting more of Long John Silver. I hated when bedtime seemed to come far too quickly. We always begged for more, just a chapter or two, and once in a while my mother gave in and kept reading. When I could read by myself, I right away read Treasure Island. When I was 8 or 9, a TV program called Treasure Island, The Adventures of Long John Silver started. Long John was more likeable than not. He was no rogue, no traitor. I remember he had a gravelly voice and said pirate things like swabs, slimy squids and mutinous maggots. I loved that show.
I read all the classics when I was a kid and still have a few of the books I got for Christmas. Even back then I treasured books and took great care of mine. They are in wonderful condition except the paste on their bindings has dried so the bindings are loose. Also, the pages have yellowed. I was ten when I got Little Woman. My school bussed us to the next town that year, my fifth grade year, while they were building a new school so I read Little Women on the bus.
I read before I go to sleep. Some nights I read for an hour or more. When I know I’m tired, I check how many pages until the chapter ends. I swear that’s a hold over from when my mother read to us. She always finished the chapter before she turned off the light.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
November 24, 2018 at 1:33 pm
My mother never read to us children even if she herself read all the time. On the other hand she never complained if I stayed up way passed my bedtime when I was reading myself since she knew how books can capture us.
My old books disappeared in one or the other move I’ve made. Too bad because it would be fun to see if I still would have liked them.
We’ve had clouds, snowfall, sunshine and below 32F all day and tomorrow it’ll drop drastically, perhaps down to 14F in the morning.
Have a great day!
Christer.
November 24, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Christer,
Like the girl in the photo, I used to hide under the covers with a flashlight and read. Sometimes I’d bring in the plastic light from the headboard under the covers. It melted from the heat under the covers. My mother couldn’t understand it melting, and I never told her why.
I think being from a family of readers inspires you to read as well. Both my parents were readers so all of us became readers.
It got really cold fast for you. We knew our cold blast was coming though knowing about it didn’t make it any easier. Last night and today were brutal. It was start getting warmer tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!!
November 24, 2018 at 5:47 pm
My mother nor my father read books to me or my sister when we were little. However, I have been an avid reader since the third grade. I was enamored with Jules Vern after seeing the Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I eventually read the book along with some of Vern’s other novels. By the age of ten I was reading adult paperback books regularly and became a fan of Leon Uris. I started with Exodus and then read Battle Cry. I still remember the scene in Battle Cry when he was a marine recruit and mistaknely called his rifle a gun. The drill instructor made him stand outside the barracks and recite, ‘This is my rifle and this is my gun, one is for fighting and the other for fun’ for a couple of hours holding both in his hands.:-) It’s Interesting what passages stick in your mind from certain books.
As a teenager in NYC I spent a lot of time riding the subway and having a paperback book in my pocket made the trips more enjoyable. I don’t have any of those books after moving several times to different cities. However, I have replaced some of them with digital copies which take up no room.
Today is beautiful with partly cloudy skies and temperature in the mid seventies with a light breeze.
November 24, 2018 at 8:16 pm
Bob,
My mother read Golden Books to me when I was really little. My favorite she told me was Chicken Little. I always wanted her to read it to me, and she always did.
I always got new books at Christmas. Nancy Drew and The Bobbsey Twins were given to me when I was 8 or 9. Nancy Drew spurred me into mysteries, still favorites of mine. I read just about anything I could get my hands on.
It is strange what stays in our heads. I remember the rifle line also, and it was used in the movie Full Metal Jacket.
Cold here today but not as cod as last night.
November 24, 2018 at 7:42 pm
I love to read but I switched to audio books, radio plays and podcasts at night some years ago. My whole life I had and still have problems to fall asleep and it’s slightly better without a reading light.
Busy chorus weekend again, tonight we sang in a museum and tomorrow we’ll repeat the concert. It’s fun to sing to an audience, I just don’t really like to dress up and wear make-up but it’s necessary on stage.
It’s late now and I’m looking forward to hear a new episode of a net-politics podcast in my bed.
November 24, 2018 at 8:04 pm
Birgit,
I find myself falling asleep more easily if I read first. I used to watch movies on my iPad but that kept me awake as I really wanted to see the end of what I was watching regardless of the time.
The music of Christmas is just so wonderful. My radio station has started playing it, and I never get tired of it as it plays for such a short time. A live concert would be even better!
Break a leg!!