Project 365 - Day 2

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books"
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



Books. There is more treasure in books than a treasure chest and, you will never run out. I love everything about a book. I love the weight of it in my hands, I love the feel of the pages in on my fingers, I love the words dancing in my mind. I even love the smell. Oh, there is nothing like the smell of a book! In a bookstore while I browse the shelves, the first thing I do when I pick up a book is put it to my nose and breathe it all in. I recently watched "Sex in the City" and Carrie said she "loved the smell" of library books. Then she got married (well... was suppose to..) in a library! Why didn't I think of that? How amazing to be surrounded by all the hundreds of years of knowledge and literature.
I have an endless need to know. I need to learn and discover. I need it like I need air. Books satisfy and provide for those needs. Books have been some of the most constant companions of my life. They entertain me when I am bored and they are a breathe of fresh air when I feel suffocated by the demands of daily life. There aren't many troubles that an hour or two of reading couldn't help. I just pick up a book and get lost into it's pages and whether I am reading about dragons, or witches and werewolves, or a handsome prince saving his betrothed, or even the passage of blood through the heart, whatever seemed so darn bad before, is better.
I have read hundreds of books and have found that there aren't many things in this world that can evoke all the feelings and emotions that a book is capable of. They can make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry, or leave you breathless with anticipation of the next page! I imagine Heaven for me will be some sort of library.
While people live and die, books live on into the next generation and the next. Their writers long dead and disappeared, but a little piece of them lives on. You can look into their books and try to understand what they were going through to make them write what they wrote. You can almost feel like you have known them personally, and that is something rare and beautiful. They are not forgotten and their books and continually re-discovered year after year by people. How special to write something so great that it lasts across centuries. I am thankful and honored that they did and they are here for me to read (...and smell.)