I was just in Jessica’s room looking at my books from the past. Like most of you, I’m sure that you have books/ texts etc that you keep when otherwise weeding them out. The difference I suppose, will be the age of the books between my selected keepers and yours.
I’ve chosen two books to bring upstairs as examples. The first I grabbed because of the price...$2.25 and I pulled it out because of the title..”Wandering Through Winter”..I mean there is snow on the ground!
It is a 350 page paper back. The sub title is “ An adventurous 20,000 mile journey through the north american winter.” I don’t believe that I ever read it. As a matter of fact, for the vast majority of the books down there , with the exception of the Texts from college, I don’t believe that I ever read them.
Many were written in the 70s, during the “Back to the land” movement & most were given to me by adult family & friends of the family who knew my predisposition to country living , sustainability & an idealistic attitude of “Save the Earth”.
This particular book had two printings.. 1957 & 1965. The chapter titles are things like “Big Bend” “Our idle days in Patagonia” “Giant Beavers” “Eagles of the ice jam” “White squirrels” & “Strange birds calling”. I can see why I decided that this book was a keeper even though I never read it..... I plan to.
The other book I brought up from the basement this morning is Rough Weather Makes Good Timber.... I brought this one up because as I opened it there was some prose interspersed in it. I like poetry, have written off & on, & certainly like to read it especially when it appears periodically throughout a book.
I also picked this one up because on the binding it says “Chapel Hill” which indicates to me that my Dad gave this one to me. Dad taught at UNC- Chapel Hill & really fell in love with North Carolina. He & Cigdem had a lovely cabin that Danielle & I visited once ( she was 5 yrs. old) in the Blue Ridge mountains.I had a life revealing dream while there that time .... a topic for a different time.... but it had to do with my “inner child”... she visited me in my dreams during that visit.
Rough Weather Makes Good Timber has an interesting shape. I love books that are in the shape of a rectangle like this one. I remember that I had a long thin book as a child and it was my favorite, Jamie had one (I still have it and have read it to her kids) & it was HER favorite. I think we had one at South called Bring Warm Clothes. This one Rough Weather Makes Good Timber
‘s content is somewhat similar... except focusing on the olden days of North Carolina.
Some of the chapter titles from this book are “ Rabbit Gum” “Eastern Tobacco Barn” “ The knob, Pilot Mountain” and “ Moonshiner’s Still”. There are black & white sketches through out the book... another favorite book characteristic of mine. Sketches appeal to me, particularly hand drawn ones in black & white.
I can easily imagine myself finally reading these particular two books simultaneously. Pick one up, read a chapter.... go about my daily business ( which will NOT include the internet.... it will go the very day I am in retirement) and maybe in a day or two, pick up the other & read a chapter. I can almost feel already the satisfaction & joy I'll experience while finally having the time to pick up these books that have patiently been waiting while all of my three children have slumbered near by. Oh. If only books could talk!!!!! :
Flash
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