“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
The day is lovely, but we are still stuck in the cold. The high will be 32°. I have no list today, nothing I need to do and nowhere I need to go. I will lounge in my cozies wrapped in my afghan. I will honor my inner sloth.
When I was a kid, the high point of my week was always Saturday. I seldom stayed home. I was out and about with my bike in the warmer weather, even on a warm winter’s day, or I would ice skate at the town rink or the swamp. I remember skating at the rink. You never went straight ahead. You skated in a circle. I followed the skaters in front of me and had skaters following me from behind. I skated until my feet hurt. I remember walking home, my skates over my shoulder and my feet tingling for a little while. The matinee was always a choice on rainy Saturdays. Snowy Saturdays meant sledding on the hill until my hands were so freezing they’d stop working. I’d call it a day, stand my sled up in a snow pile then slide down the stairs to the cellar where I’d hang my wet clothes on the clothesline and put on my cozies. I have been a long time lover of cozies.
I used to love buying copies of Classics Illustrated. Two of my favorites were Treasure Island and Kidnapped. I had read Treasure Island but not Kidnapped though I did see the movie. The Classics Illustrated were the same price as the regular comics, only a dime, and I thought they were bargain. One time, I was walking the tracks. On one side of the track by the road was a big green wooden box which held sand. I remember opening the top just to look. I found a tied bundle of comic books. I had found a treasure. One of the comics was Little Lulu, a favorite, another was Dondi. I never liked Dondi, the World War II orphan. Scrooge McDuck was in the pile. I sat all the rest of the day reading those comics.
I finished my book last night and am ready for another. I have several books saved to my iPad, but I love reading real books more. I love the feel of them, the sound of the pages turning and the joy of finishing one and shutting the cover with a satisfaction that on-line books don’t give me. I have several choices including books by Ngaio Marsh, Mary Wesley, James Patterson and Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump. I’m leaning toward the Mary Wesley. I’m thinking to lie on the couch, read and maybe treat myself to hot chocolate with marshmallow floating on the top.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
February 22, 2025 at 3:26 pm
Hi Kat,
Hopefully, this recent cold snap, since Tuesday, was the last of the arctic winter breakouts. Today the high temperature should reach 50°. By Monday we will be back in the 70s.
Like you, I read Classics Illustrated comics all the time. When I lived in Dallas as a kid, I would ride my bike on Saturdays to the nearest store and buy a couple of Classics Illustrated comics along with some candy. In those days a fifty cent per week allowance went a long ways.
My home office has a wall full of a books that are in a tall builtin bookcase, which is filled with my hardback books. Almost all of what I read daily is on my iPad. I especially enjoy having my place electronically memorized and I can read several books simultaneously without the weight of carrying real books. Sometimes, I highlight interesting facts and enter notes in them. So far, I have never read one highlighted passage or note in a digital book.
Beginning in about the fourth grade, I started reading pocket books and I collected them. I wasn’t a fan of the public library because I fell in love with every title and hated returning them. I now subscribe to Bookbub, which sends me a list daily of the books marked down to $1.99 based on the subjects I chose. When a title I want shows up, I buy it. They are all saved to my iCloud account. Eventually I will get around to reading all of them.
I never turn down hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream on top. 🙂
February 22, 2025 at 10:41 pm
Hi Bob,
Heat wave will be here tomorrow. The high will be 40°. Today stayed at 35°. I even had to bundle just to fill a couple of feeders. Next time I’ll wear gloves.
I also got fifty cents allowance. I thought it was a fortune. I used to spend 49 cents on a new book. They were Whitman books with colored heavy cardboard covers. Some of the books were classics like Heidi. I also bought books like Zorro and Robinson Caruso. My favorites, though, were books like about Trixie Belden, a girl detective. The penny went for a piece of candy. When I bought my house, my mother brought down all those books of mine. Some of them are the worse for wear, but I still treasure them.
I generally have an upstairs book and a downstairs book. The ones I finish go to the library, my Little Library, in front of my house. People both take and leave books. Tomorrow I need to go out and organize. I’ll take the religious Latter Day Saints books out. I have about 5 books ready to go outside. Bookmarks keep track of where I am.
Like you, I’d never turn down hot chocolate, cocoa here, and marshmallows!