READING
There was a column about reading in the recent Wall Street Journal Report: The Future. I was pleased to see this, but think that Walter Mosley could have made a stronger case overall for the value of reading. Nonetheless, he did write the following: “There’s nothing like reading. That interpretation through the nonconcrete medium of words fosters creativity in almost every bookworm. Basic imaginative talent is cultivated by reading, and that process cannot be replaced or lost because, we, as long as we are human, will always have words and thoughts, pains and ecstasies, that must be expressed.” So cheers for the bookworms, may they flourish!
In an innovative approach to encouraging reading and making books readily available, the San Francisco Public Library this month is launching a book bike. Called Spoke & Word, it will show up at Giants’ baseball games, farmers’ markets, parades, and other community gathering places. Just another example of the vision and creativity of my west coast friends. Congratulations! [The photo is from the library.]
MEMENTOS OF RED
My mother loved the color red. In her younger days, she wore a lot of red. Over the years, she amassed a collection of red glass. Her picture window ledges were lined with small red objects—goblets, birds, vases, pitchers, and even a red apple—most of them gifts from family and friends. At Christmas, she reveled in decorating her house and her tree with as much red as possible, everything from red ornaments to red poinsettias to wreaths and swags, always with a red bow.
Now my mother is gone, but she lingers on in the scattering of red in my house. A necklace of tubular red wooden beads interlaced with silver discs from Finland; a lovely pinkish-red silk scarf with ribbons of black; a delicate clear glass hummingbird ornament with red wings and tail; a carved wooden cardinal ornament; a small glass pitcher with a wide mouth and a yellow handle; a round Chinese lacquer box. These items are imbued with memories: of good times, of travels, of holidays spent together, of family. Red has become my color too.
