“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
The morning is cold and grey. It is only 38˚. Scattered showers are predicted. Today is a stay home day. It is also a laundry day. The poor day has nothing redeemable.
When I was a kid, Sunday was a lazy day. After church I just sort of hung around the house, at least in winter. Sometimes I’d watch TV while other times I’d hide up in my room and read. My room was my private place.
I loved to read anything. I think I memorized the backs of all the cereal boxes. They were my breakfast read. When I was really young, I remember Nan and Bert and Freddie and Flossie, the Bobbsey twins. I remember they were rich. I envied their travels. They were the first chapter books I ever read.
Later on, I read the classics. Black Beauty made me cry. I still won’t watch a Black Beauty movie. When I was in the fifth grade, I got Little Women for Christmas. During a good part of that school year we were bussed to the next town for school until our new school was built. I remember reading that book while sitting in the back of the bus. Little Women led me to Little Men which I bought for 49¢ at the Children’s Corner, a kids’ clothing store uptown with a bookcase of Whitman books in the back. I didn’t stop there. I read Jo’s Boys, the end of the March story. My favorite book back then was The Wind in the Willows. I loved the river, the sun and the boats. Mole, Rat, and Mr. Badger were such amazing friends to Mr. Toad, the crazy Mr. Toad. Treasure Island set me aback a bit. Like Jim, I was taken in by Long John Silver. I thought he was a good guy. When I found out he was a pirate, I was crushed.
Robert Louis Stephenson was, for a long while, my favorite author. Besides Treasure Island, I read Kidnapped, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and The lost World. One year when we were in Maine for vacation, staying in Islesboro, there were a few books in the sun room, the one with the wicker furniture. One of those books was A Child’s Garden of Verses. I fell in love with poetry.
I loved mysteries. I read most of the Nancy Drew books. I also read the Trixie Belden mysteries. When I moved into my house, my mother brought down all my childhood books. One of them was the very first Trixie Belden I ever read, The Secret of the Mansion. Back when I was a kid, I wanted to be Trixie Belden and live at Crabapple Farm. I think in some ways I still do.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
November 28, 2021 at 5:52 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sky was cloudless and the high temperature reached 69°. It was a gorgeous day to visit the Zebu cattle in a pasture behind a barbecue restaurant in Southlake. The Zebu share the field with a pair of donkeys and a small herd of goats. I don’t know if the owners of the restaurant also own the field behind their parking lot.
I’m sure that the restaurant was on this quiet two lane country road before the mansions on either side were built. Each of these gargantuan houses are surrounded by several acres of land.
Later we stopped off at another favorite Chinese place for a late lunch.
Tonight on CBS they are showing the last concert by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Tony Bennett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and this was his last public appearance. I think he’s 95. It’s on right after 60 Minutes.
I have been an avid reader since the third grade. My favorite author is Earnest Kellog Gann. He wrote several classic aviation books such as “Fate is the Hunter” and “The High and the Mighty”. Not surprising I would enjoy his books. 🙂 I love non fiction books that cover a wide range of interests including History, Biographies, Science, and Politics.
Thankfully, I get to return to work in the morning. 🙂
November 28, 2021 at 7:07 pm
Hi Bob,
It is raining right now. Of course it is. I washed the kitchen floor now covered with paw prints. It is only 37˚. At least the rain won’t freeze.
I had to look up to see what Zebu cattle looked like. They are huge and amazing.
Gargantuan houses ought to be outlawed. They destroy the look of neighborhoods especially near the ocean around here. There needs to be a moratorium on size of houses on lots.
I have a uke jam when that program is on so I am recording it. I don’t want to miss it. I had read about his Alzheimer’s.
I haven’t read either of those books, but I did see both movies, and they were excellent. I don’t know how they compared to the books. Most movies just can’t fit in all the action of the books. The only movie I remember which was better than the book was Jaws. They took out the adultery, totally unnecessary to the plot.
Tomorrow is my slow day.
November 28, 2021 at 7:30 pm
The “High and the Mighty” followed the book very closely and was the first disaster movie. “Fate is the Hunter”, was the movie that Gann hated the adaptation. The book is his memoirs of his career as an airline pilot for American Airlines before WWII. His career in the war and his career after the war. He tells the story of a pilot in the 1930s who managed to land his iced up DC-3 into Nashville. Then, on the pilot’s drive home he is killed driving on an icy highway.
November 28, 2021 at 9:34 pm
Bob,
I am not a John Wayne fan, but I liked The High and the Mighty. I remember Fate is the Hunter and the coffee.
That is so horrible, death on the icy road.
November 28, 2021 at 6:42 pm
Kat – For some reason that I can’t seem to understand, I have one heck of a problem sitting down and read a book that I am interested in & ordered thru my favorite place. I must have 30 different books that just sit there on the shelf. I have books on History, WWII, Biographies, on famous people from our past, Gangsters of the 1920’s and etc. I know I should read them, but don’t know how! And yes, I can read quite well.
November 28, 2021 at 7:12 pm
Hi Les,
I think a book has to pique your interest right from the beginning. Sometimes I plow through a book hoping it will get better. Sometimes it doesn’t. Lately I have been reading the Clinton mysteries. Hers I read quickly, enjoying it completely. His, written with Patterson, is a plow through. I started that book before Hillary’s but am barely half-way through. Maybe the books you have are just too heavy.
November 28, 2021 at 7:18 pm
Enid Blyton adventures, Just William and the Billy Bunter books they all started my love of reading. After I actually went to college after a long delay, I regrouped and refocused my reading. I read almost exclusively 20th century European history
Today my biggest problem is what to do when the book is finished. Our local library no longer wants donations and I look anxiously for someone that might have a vague interest. Then the book goes to recycling
November 28, 2021 at 9:41 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I tend to read fiction. Actually, about 85% of my reading is fiction. I know the name Enid Blyton, but I don’t remember what I read. I don’t know the other books.
Some of my books I send to my sister. Others go into my little library. The collection there changes. I add books. People take books and leave books.
I don’t know exactly where you are but there is a map of little libraries. You can look here:
https://littlefreelibrary.org/ufaqs/how-can-i-find-little-free-libraries-near-me/