To smell a book . . .

 

(source) 

Reading gives us someplace to go

when we have to stay where we are.

~Mason Cooley

Have you ever truly buried your nose in a book? Sat there and inhaled its fragrance. The actual smell will depend on the book, where you are, where the book came from, the age of the book, etc. Some will smell musty (not my favourite), but mostly they smell like paper and leather and, to me at least, like promise. You know a great adventure awaits you and you are about to travel someplace you've never been before  . . . I love it! 

I have enjoyed a lifelong love affair with books. It started with my father reading to me when I was very young. I remember two stories in particular that he read to me. Heidi and another one about Tom and Jerry. My father would put on character voices and to this day has the Tom and Jerry book memorized, as do I.

"Jerry mouse stepped out of his mousehole one day. "My, he called over to his friend Tom as he looked across at the big people's kitchen, "What a beautiful day! Let's go for a walk, let's go for a sail, lets go for a PICNIC!" 

I can still hear my father's voice in my head . . .  all high pitched and queaky. . .  filled with excitement as he regalled me with this tale.This is a treasure I carry with me always and no matter where I go . . .

 

(source)  

A room without books 
is like a body without a soul.
~Cicero

The love affair continued on and when I was old enough I would take my bicycle and pedal to the local library every day in the summer months and at the weekends during the other months. As children, we were only allowed to take one book out at a time. I was there every day as, not only was I a voracious reader, I was a very quick reader and I was hungry for books.

I read my way through all the Nancy Drew series, Trixie Beldon, the Adventurous Five, The Bobbsey Twins, Little Women, etc. not once but several times. I loved anything by Enid Blyton and still do to this day.  Oh my  . . . the adventures Enid Blyton took me on were simply nothing less than magical.

 
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Books don't just go with you,
they take you where you've never been. 

I also read the entire Book of Knowledge encyclopedia that my parents had bought us children. That is no lie, I read the entire thing. I was amazed at all the things between it's pages and was as pleased as punch when my mother gifted me with it several years back. I know it was old, and alot of the information in it was out of date, but it was special to me, and I treasured it. My heart was broken when my ex burnt it in one of his legendary bon-fires. It was a done deed before I even knew what he was doing  . . .  all those childhood memories of mine, gone up in smoke.


I hope that I instilled my same love of books in my children. Every night after bathtime we would gather on the big double bed my two daughters shared. Their faces would be all dewey, pink and clean from their baths, their eyes shining in anticipation.  I would read to them, putting on the voices for each of the characters, just as my father had done before, invoking as much enthusiasm and expression into each telling as I could.

 

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I do so hate finishing books.
I would like to go on with them for years.
~Beatrix Potter

Sometimes I would make up my own stories for them and tell them those, which they enjoyed as well.

They each had their own favorite books.

"Oliver and the Sticky Buns"   Alison Uttley's "Little Grey Hare"   "Goodnight Moon"   "Just Me and My Dad"   ohh, and mustn't forget "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Pants With Nobody In Them."

When one was finished, they would beg me . . . "just one more mom!"  How could I resist . . . one more it would be!

 

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I have lived a thousand lives,

and I have loved a thousand loves.

I've walked on distant worlds

and seen the end of time.

Because I read.

~George R. R. Martin 

I continue my love affair to this day. My side of the bed is stacked with books I am reading, as not only am I voracious, but  . . .  I am greedy.  I can never read just one book at a time. I generally have several on the go. I am always finding books that I just have to read, and I have one small bookcase full of favourites. These are books  that I can read again, and again . . .  and again.Each time I open one of those up, it is like I am visiting with a long lost friend I have not seen in a while. Oh how wonderful it is to become re-acquainted after a time has passed.

 

(source)  

Books give a soul to the universe,

wings to the mind, flight to the imagination,

and life to everything.

~Plato

Now where was I?  Oh yes . . . to smell a book.  Next time you get the chance, take a book, put it up to your nose, close your eyes, and breathe it in.  You will smell paper, leather perhaps . . .  adventure, the past, the future, hope, despair, sadness and joy, history, love . . .  Ruffle it's pages and smell it again, and then . . . don't stop there.  Dig in and read, experience one of life's greatest pleasures . . . a book.  Expand your vision and your mind, and, if you are really lucky . . . your heart.


A thought to carry with you  . . .

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *Reading is dreaming
with your eyes open.
~unknown•。★★ 。* 。 

 

I'm sharing a tutorial in the English Kitchen today on How To Cook Bacon In The Oven.  Plus I have added a few of my favourite recipes which use bacon. 

What a wash out yesterday was.  It rained most of the day.  Its really cool this morning as well, but I do see some blue bits of sky. There's plenty of cloud about however, so who knows what will happen with this day.  In any case, don't forget! 

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And I do too!