Cookbooks..for some, instructional..for other, light reading.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
"Half the cookbooks tell you how to cook the food and the other half tell you how to avoid eating it." ~ Andy Rooney
My mother reads cookbooks like some women read romance novels or mysteries. She had the world's largest collection of cookbooks before we moved and it was with great heartache and much angst that she painstakingly went through each one and decided which to keep and which to sell or give to the library. I had a lot of cookbooks as well, though I never read them as books, only as instructional manuals. Combined we probably had 20 boxes of cookbooks....now, only two large six shelf bookcases full... oh yes, and two shelves in the kitchen. I gave a lot of them to Nyssa when she moved away... probably too many. She most often gets her recipes on the internet... but there is still something about having that open cookbook with flour and drops of batter adorning a favorite recipe page....all the stains and tears reflect a memory.
Music books bring inked notes to life.
"My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence."
~ Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)
We have music scores, opera scores, piano books, hymnals... even books about music history. This happens when one member of the family is an accomplished pianist with over 70 years of experience and another is a globetrotting Helden tenor, specializing in Wagner operas. We have at least one full bookcase with just music.
Yearbooks. Old Books. Really old yearbooks!
"Popularity ends on yearbook day, but respect lasts forever."
~ Gordon B. Hinkley
I can't find my college yearbooks..this is probably because I packed them away in the very back of the storage unit. I've never been fond of yearbooks... it almost seemed like a contest to see who could get the most people to write their name over their picture or write a note. And what do you write in these? What can you write in the yearbook of someone you barely knew in one class when you were a freshman and haven't seen them once in the hall since? It seems pointless as the years go on and you find yourself slipping further away from all the faces lined up in rows on the page. In twenty years, you probably wouldn't recognize them if they passed you on the street anyway.
Mom and Dad met at their college, Asbury. They have kept up with those in their class over the years and have returned for reunions... and have already had their 50th. Aren't the hairstyles something? Of course the Farrah Fawcett hair cuts in the 70's when I went to college are just as funny today!
Nyssa's Sweet Sixteen memory scrapbooks.
"As we turn the pages of time, we discover hidden mysteries and triumphs in each new chapter." ~ Flavia
When Nyssa turned sixteen, I sent blank paper to all of her friends, family, teachers... everyone who had had a part in her life. They wrote letters filled with memories of childhood, events, fun and silly times and heartfelt thoughts of pride and joy at her accomplishments. The response was amazing... even from the teenage guys. For two months I collected them and put them, along with pictures from my archives, into two large scrapbooks. I worked at my lab where large bench tables would hold all the scraps of paper and stickers and other embellishments... weekends mostly or when she was busy with things at school. I didn't get it done in time for her birthday, but a couple of weeks later we went to eat with one of her friends and I gave them to her then... She was totally surprised and started crying and the two girls spent the evening looking at all the pictures and reading all the letters. I think... I hope it was one of the best presents she ever received... I know the letters were full of love and encouragement and the book was put together with all my love.
This week the Saturday Photo Hunt theme is "books".... so remember....
"No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books." ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(end of post)
PhotoHunt
No comments:
Post a Comment