For The Love of Reading!

Early morning on the Little River Trail

Great Smoky Mountains National Park - August, 2012

I come by it honestly.   After all, I am the daughter of a librarian.   As a child, my disciplinary infractions most always involved a book in one way or the other.   From bringing a book to the dinner table to getting caught long after lights out trying to read just a few more pages while balancing a book and a flashlight UNDER THE COVERS!!   I read anything and everything I could get my hands on with favorites being mysteries, biographies and (no surprise here) anything travel or adventure related.  As I grew older and hopefully, a little more mature, my selections began to include lots of "classics, " both fiction and non-fiction. 

But somewhere along the way, I seemed to have forgotten how much I loved finding a new book by a favorite author on the shelf at the library. Or a tempting title catching my eye at Barnes & Noble.   Heck, I couldn't even tell you the last time I was IN Barnes & Noble, a place I used to spend hours.   And my mom, who used to bring me stacks of books to review for her church library (which she founded and is still considered one of the premier Church Libraries in our state), has stopped doing that.   What makes me sad is I hadn't even noticed.  

So what happened and why I am I writing about it here?   Two things happened.    They didn't happen at the same time, but once they intersected, I became aware of what was missing.    You might have figured this out by now, but the writing of this blog and the reading of so many others gradually took priority over settling in for an afternoon with a good book.  And that isn't a bad thing!  Not at all.   I love writing this blog and love even more, reading yours!  But I will not let it overtake my life to the exclusion of other things which are so much a part of me.  

It was the bursted blood vessel in my eye and subsequent eye infection that caused me to remember.   I was more or less placed on computer abstinence for 10 days so that my poor, strained eyes could heal.  And then there was the insinuation that as long as I insisted on spending most of my waking hours staring into a laptop, I could expect more problems with dry eyes and infections. 

So the laptop took a long hiatus and I almost instantly remembered that the calming print of a real book was a sweet respite indeed.   I've mentioned that I haven't been feeling well on several levels (we are currently working on that) and the truth of the matter is I've spent a luxurious amount of time resting, relaxing and READING!  I think I like those three R's better than the more familiar ones - don't you???  

But most important of all is the peace that comes with rediscovering a piece of yourself that had taken a back seat and putting it back in the place it belongs!  Once more, there is a stack of real, hard bound BOOKS right beside me, I've become reacquainted with the folks at my closest library branch and yes, I called my mom and asked, "why?"   And her answer made me cry.

Here on the homefront, things are settling into the fall routine.   We are loving our new normal.   I am working hard to confront head-on these health issues that are plaguing me and fighting with everything in me to find solutions.   Yesterday morning, for the second time in my life, I endured the full battery of allergy testing and learned some interesting results that directly conflicted with results reported from the earlier battery in 2008.  Go figure!  I see my Rheumatologist later on this week to go over the results of today's appointment and hopefully make some decisions regarding medication that can get me off some of this temporary stuff (Prednisone) that I hate so badly.  Other appointments are coming up in the next few weeks that have me hopeful for progress and solutions.

I am so grateful that, although inconvenient and often uncomfortable, none of these problems have kept me off the hiking trail because if that were the case, I'd be seeking MENTAL help!!   My mountains, the trails and my trail "buds" keep me sane!  

Through all of this, my weight is remaining stable.  I am hovering right at goal weight give or take a couple of pounds which fluctuates daily.   Right now, it isn't difficult!

I've got a cool roadtrip coming up in a few days that promises cooler temps in higher elevations and some chances to hike in one of my favorite areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  So stayed tuned....Gains and Losses is revving up for the fall season.  

But in the meantime.........Mary Jane Clark and her Wedding Cake Mystery Series is wooing me back to her pages!

Are you a reader?   What was the last thing you finished reading?