couldn't live without . . .

dear emily,

i was hemming through my day, crookedly as always, and thought of
something that i could not live without.

books.

for lent one year i fasted books.   it was excruciating.   take my chocolate,
my desserts, my phone, but give me my books.

sometimes i have three or four books humming through my mind at the same
time.    beautiful or tragic phrases become cadences in my soul like, "sleep
was spooned into her."   other times i remind myself of elf saying interesting
words repeatedly, "francisco, franCISco, F R A N C I S CO!"

i love the silliness of amelia bedelia as much as i adore the heroism of
gentle atticus.   big books, little books, tragedies, comedies, mysteries . . .
the book i've read the most?  the Good Book.

no matter how late the doctor is for my 1:00 appointment or how long the
traffic is piled up at 51st and harvard, i have the means to escape into the
tale i keep with me at all times.   sometimes i look forward to waiting, so i
have another excuse to read.

what thing could you not live without?

love,
lea

"do not let this Book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it
day and night . . . "  joshua 1:8