Pyjama Day

     

Image from here

Hello Jen. This poster that you sent me a link to on twitter today, was so apt. I went to bed last night just after midnight, and with the exception of waking briefly when the Prof kissed me before he went to work, I slept solidly through to 1.45 pm! I don't feel remotely refreshed either, still tired and fed up at having missed half the day. CFS is a pain in the bum. When I went into the kitchen to make tea and toast, I discovered that we had no bread. Then I saw that the dear dog had managed somehow to get her head into a dish that had some fat in from the sausages I cooked last night and, as she could only just reach with the tip of her tongue, had managed to splash the fat all over the worktop, saucepans, toaster and everything else in the vicinity. That will teach me not to leave the kitchen in a mess and go for a drive, as we did last evening.  Anyway, I decided to ignore the mess for the time being, sat down (still in my nightwear, naturally) with the laptop and there was this poster. It gave me a laugh when I was feeling sorry for myself, thanks for that! I must have needed the sleep, to have slept through like that, but I am either asleep or feeling exhausted so much of the time that it sometimes gets me down. A laugh was just what I needed. I also decided to take it at face value and not do much for the rest of today at all. The Prof is bringing in a takeaway for dinner, and I am just going to read this evening. I love to read.

From the moment I learned to read I was a voracious reader. I read all the time. My Dad would not allow me to read at the table, something I thought was extremely unfair. At breakfast with my brother and my Mum in the mornings, she would always read the newspaper. My young self couldn't see that was any different to me reading a book during the evening meal. They couldn't stop me reading though, I used to read the sauce bottles instead. I read in bed at night, by the light coming through the crack of the bedroom door, hiding the book under the covers if my parents came upstairs. I read when I had friends over to play, leaving them to fend for themselves. I read so much that my mother worried about it, because I read instead of playing. By the time I was nine, I had a reading age of fourteen and had read all the books in the school's reading scheme. In secondary school I read in all my break times. I read in the car, even though it made me travel-sick. I read anything and everything, and wherever I was would look for something to read, from the newspaper to the cornflake box, and any books I could get my hands on.

The first book I  remember reading myself was one of Enid Blyton's Famous Five series. I must have been six or seven. I think it might have been Five Get Into Trouble, though I read so many of them after that that I can't be sure. I loved the Famous Five books, about four cousins and their dog, and their adventures every school holiday in the English countryside. After that I remember reading 'What Katy Did', by the American author Susan Coolidge. I found myself in Katy. She was tall like I was, and had long dark hair like mine (in the picture on my copy, at least) and I identified with her temper and lack of patience. I loved that book and still have my original falling-to-bits copy. For some reason I set myself the task of reading it thirteen consecutive times, and then I did. I also read What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next, but don't remember those quite so well, especially the last one, when Katy is grown up. I might have to put those on my list to get from the library next time. I also loved my Hamlyn Children's Bible, full of Bible stories in simple text and with lovely full page illustrations. I was not brought up in a religious home, nor do I have any religious belief now, but I loved some of those stories, especially from the Old Testament.   

At the moment I am reading The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, for another reading group, at Writing Our Way Home. It is about a family of immigrants to the USA from India. I am only two or three chapters in, and I am really enjoying it so far. Next up will be the Time Traveler's Wife. I loved it the last time I read it some years ago, so I am looking forward to rereading it and discussing it in the group with you and others. After this, I have another four novels from the library, as well as my own 'to be read' pile, which I have to say is considerably bigger than yours, Jen! 

I don't blame your girls for not wanting to part with their books. Most of my childhood books are gone now, but I still have a dozen or so old favourites, and reread them from time to time. Some books are like old friends, you might not spend much time with them very often anymore, but it's good to know they are there.