Books – Page 2 – Valerie's Voice

February: I Love To Read Month

It’s February and it’s I Love To Read” month.

Reading is a wonderful thing to celebrate. I’m so grateful I can read.

I don’t have childhood memories of reading every chance I could get, or under the tree, or in a secret place like a lot of adults talk about, but at some point in time I started to read more and became aware of how much I love to read. It’s a wonderful thing. Image result for reading quotes

I do have lots of memories from reading to my boys in their childhood. Reading was a very precious time. I loved reading to them, and we read to them a lot. Our reading times are some of my fondest memories. I can picture me sitting on the sofa with a boy at each side, cuddling up, by the light and reading and reading…many books, many times, including every night before bed. I cherish those remembrances.

I have always liked books but I believe my love of books began when I started reading to my children. I started learning about, and buying, books to read to our boys. I’ve acquired a small collection of children’s books, which I continue to enjoy to this day (and still add to my collection).

Image result for free clip art for book clubs

I am in a book club, which I enjoy very much. I have read so many books over the years that I would probably never have picked out to read on my own. It has been, and continues to be, a wonderful experience. I borrow most of the books I read for our book club from our local library. However, there are certain other books I buy so I can highlight or underline ideas or thoughts as I read. My husband loves to read too, so we do have our own collection of books on bookshelves at home.

I wrote a children’s book. The story line is about skyping and I used clip art for the illustrations because it is about using computers so I thought clip art was appropriate. I had a print center in town print, laminate, and bind the book for my granddaughter whom I skype with – in Africa – and now, with her brother too. I’ve sent it to publishers but so far no one is interested. It was a fun project.

There’s so many more thoughts to share on reading. I love to read…here’s to “I love to read” month!

The End of NIght

I finished reading The End Of Night; Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard. Folks on the BWCA trip recommended the book. I requested it from the library and when I picked it up I wondered how a 270 page book on artificial light could possibly hold my interest, but it did. Simply put, it addresses light pollution and it’s affect on our planet, our bodies, our lives. It was written in 2013…who knew there are groups out there advocating for better type of lighting in our cities (all over the world) so we don’t “drowned out” the Milky Way?

I started reading the book at the cabin up on the north shore. While having a campfire on the rocks our last evening, the sky was clear. It was a new moon, therefore there was no light competition for the stars. I have always paid attention to the phases of the moon, especially when we go up north. After the campfire I suggested we get in the car and drive to the top of the hill on Sawbill Trail and turn out the car lights to stargaze. We did. On the hill we were far away from artificial light: no city lights, no cabin lights, no headlights…and it was spectacular to see the beautiful dome of stars.

In church recently I talked with a woman who had just returned from “up north” and mentioned how her young son was amazed to see so many stars in the night sky, unlike what he sees at home. This is one reason of concern in the book.

Reading the book brought back a couple of memories. One evening, when our boys were younger, we were camping in northern MN with two other families. The air was still and the sky was clear. After dark, we all hiked to the small lake in the campground and saw the stars reflecting in the calm, unruffled water. It was a stunning scene and one I have thought of several times through the years.

Another special outdoor, nighttime memory is walking with a friend when the moon was full. At first we joined organized hikes with a naturalist, but after a few months we just started walking on our own on nights when the sky was clear and the moon was full. It was great and we had enough light from the moon to walk the path without flashlights.

I love light, as most people do, but this book gave me a new appreciation for our need for darkness too, and for our wonderful, magnificent night sky.

A Carnegie Library

The Northfield Public Library is a Carnegie library, built in 1910 with a most recent addition in 2016. A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929 – 1,689 in the United Sates – and one in my town.

I use our library often. I’ve been in a book club for several years now and rarely do I buy a book…I borrow it from the library. And when we go on road trips I borrow books on CD to listen as we speed down the freeway, or ramble on the back roads. And sometimes it’s nice to borrow movies instead of rent them.

Libraries often have inviting spaces to sit and read a book, magazine or newspaper, or relax and enjoy the quiet and/or write. But I don’t really take advantage of those spaces. It is too convenient for me to go on-line, order a book, movie or CD, have the librarians gather what I’ve ordered and notify me when it’s ready for pick up. What a great service. I walk right in to the holding shelf, self-check out, admire the lovely space, then leave. Someday I may just have to stay and enjoy.

I stopped by the library yesterday to pick up another book on tape…an old term I still use … it’s actually a book on CD. I am leaving on another road trip and look forward to listening to someone read to me as I drive along, passing the hours until I reach my destination.