The Written Word

I love writing.
There is something so beautiful to me about the written word.
Words that are spoken are important for sure. But to me they are words that would normally come out of ones mouth, and then maybe fall on ears that would remember what was said for a day or two.
Maybe if the listener was really paying attention the words are ones that a person would carry for a lifetime, but often times the words we say fall on deaf ears never to be thought of again.

Ah... but the written word.
Well, that is an entirely different beast all together.

Good or bad the written words are forever held in time.
Right now I am finishing up a book club choice called People of The Book, by Geraldine Brooks
It's a fictional book about a book restorer who is working on a book that was written in the 1400's.
The book she has been commissioned to work on is an old Jewish prayer book called a Haggadah.

Anyway, the story is amazing!
The story within the story of this book is what has got my wheels turning.
She finds in her restoration process stains and marks in the book, and then has them analyzed for further clues as to where the book got it's origins. The amazing part to me is that we have books like this.
Books that have withstood the test of time.

One of my favorite older books that I own is a book called "Cooking for Two, by Janet M Hill copyright 1909.
I bought it from my neighbor June.
It has articles in the front and back about "Being a Good Housewife" or "When Mom lets us Cook" or " Some Cleaning Secrets " and all of these and her little scribbles here and there are what make the book that much more precious to me.
The story within the story.



June was an older Scottish woman who to keep her mind sharp and get some social interaction, every Saturday morning she would open up her little garage on Minnesota St. in Carson City and sell some of her treasures that she had carried for a lifetime.
I would go down every Saturday and buy only one or two things. Usually one of her salt and pepper shakers and one book.
We would talk for a bit, mostly I would ask her a lot of questions about her life and listen carefully to this very wise wonderful woman.
I miss June.
But I carry a little piece of her with me in the books that I bought from her.

I have often thought now that we have become so digital and everything is out here in cyberspace rather than on paper what treasures will be lost when we no longer have access to this.
There are ways, I know that you can turn your blog into a book and I really have thought of doing that for my children to enjoy someday.
It most certainly is a record of events.
An out loud journal of sorts.
It makes me wonder, why we all love living out loud so much?
Those of us that blog anyway.
To me its therapeutic.



When I first started blogging it was because I was a stay at home mom who desperately needed connection to the outside world.
Now I blog because I have grown to love the blogging community and the process of getting things out of my head and onto the computer screen.
I am thankful for the written word.
I am glad that there are others out there just like me who treasure it as much as I do.

For those of you who are just like me, I leave you with this the quote at the beginning of that old cookbook;

"The best things are nearest... Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life."


True, true indeed.

That and next time you are at a rummage sale, don't look over those old books. There might be a story within a story.
Oh, and when you own a book be sure to make your mark on it, who knows someday those little notes that you write down might be the very thing that makes that book so much more special to the readers of the future!

Happy Reading AND Writing Friends!