Sunday, July 24, 2011

My Book Footprint - I Love the Wandering

 We all leave a trail of books behind us, even as we look ahead to the next one. You find them in various places and they become yours, at least for the moment. You take a risk with something new and it becomes a new favorite, or you discover an author you have not read before, and it opens up a whole slew of new books to discover. Then there are the ones you think you'll like and they end up being ones you can't quite get through, or you put them down and intend to read them one day, but sadly never do, even though you want to.

The intake and outtake of books is fascinating to me, and I am sure if I had a book trail with footprints to show where I had wandered, it would be interesting, to say the least. My book footprint would show trails that path through literature, biographies, history, and poetry, mostly. Even there, the trail would jag off in many different directions, as I found my way through to discover the books I love. Not surprisingly, I am still on the trail, leaving footprints daily. Surely my path is retraced and backtracked in my discoveries.

But I love the wandering, the adventure that the walking through affords. I wouldn't take the back steps back, for they have me where I am today. Making the most of the journey, while I add a treasure here and there to my shelf, and let go of some that no longer mean the world anymore.
Treasures can change just like people change. But really, not so much.
 Photo credits
John Elk III - Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park During Autumn, Missouri
Arthur Rackham - Undancey