What is it that witches call their cats? Familiars - that's it. Books are my familiars. I am a bit of a restless soul. One month all I want to do is knit socks – I'll knit four pairs and post them off before the thirty days are up. Next month I'll be in a sewing frenzy – sewing aprons for all my friends. Next I will be completely besotted by chocolate and I will cook 15 chocolate desserts and all of the people who usually just put up with me are, suddenly, my best friends. I'm exaggerating just a little but I do switch crafting and cooking loyalties at the drop of a calendar.
Books are the one thing that I never give up – that I never want to change. I do change genres and moods but I always have at least one book to read.
I have all my books in my bedroom. I don't necessarily want them in there but that's where they live. I can't kick them out. They are comfortable there. They wink at me as I walk by. I fondle them on a daily basis. They are the last thing I see as I close my eyes at night. They aren't my friends – they are my refuge.
When I feel that wanderlust creeping up on me, I pick up a book. When I get the urge to start looking in the rentals in Maui, I pick up a book. When I think I can't stand it all one more minute, I find a book to help me. I hardly ever get bored. I have books to read.
I have a restless mind too. I need to learn something every day. If I have had a routine day at work I need to come home and learn something. Usually from a book. I have books about maps, which fascinate me. I have geographic atlases and historical atlases. (Is that how you spell the plural of atlas?) I love planning trips down rivers in Europe or on trains through Russia.
I have cookbooks, craft books – mostly knitting but I am building up my quilting collection – which I never tire of. I have architecture books that can keep me entertained for hours. I have gardening books which I hardly ever look at but when I do, I love planning what I will do with my backyard. I have a collection of Vogue Entertaining, Rachel Ray and Cooks Illustrated magazines that I wander through often.
If I am not watching TV or a movie, if I am not cooking or sleeping, if I am not performing my nightly dance - I am reading something. I know I have said this before but I am not myself if I don't have a book. Even if I probably won't be reading it in the next couple hours I still carry one with me. What if I have to sit still for a few minutes? What if my friend is running late? What if I find myself in a park on a bench in the sun? I have had quiet un-reading moments, but not many.
Books are my familiars and I am sure that when I die - I will be able to take my favourites with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment