Sunset - June 2, 2020

Sunset - June 2, 2020

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Quiet Hour

It seems as though the 2012 weekly postings for Alphabe-Thursday have taken on a "memories of childhood" theme. This week the letter is "H". A major undertaking for the month of January is to Clean the Basement. This is not a project for the faint of heart...from my childhood high chair (almost 68 years old) old camping equipment, to the remnants of our son's left-behind household goods and everything in between - each day brings a flood of stored away images to my dust-clogged brain. 

Monday of this week was Book Day...sorting through dozens upon dozens of books...photography books that will go with us on our next trip to Alaska, out of date computer manuals (I believe they are obsolete as soon as they leave the book store), fictional novels and long ago college textbooks. All are bundled and tied up with cording ready to be donated. 

Except for one - this well read paper back - 
 
What is so special about this particular book?...when I came across it, everything else was forgotten for a time...the pages were turned and once again, it was evening. Our young son had just finished a warm bath, and a favorite pair of pajamas had been jumped into (the kind with non-skid feet). "Mom, can we read again tonight?" And we would snuggle on the sofa and pick up the story from the previous evening...as I read to him of the adventures of Atreyu and Falkor, the day would unwind and the house would grow quiet. Eventually, those little eyes would grow heavy and the book would be marked where we stopped. Tucking him into bed was not an issue...I am happy to say we never had problems with a child who fought bedtime. I attribute that mostly to The Quiet Hour. As for me, those times are a treasure.


..."I wonder, what's in a book while it's closed. Oh, I know, it's full of letters printed on paper, but all the same, something must be happening, because as soon as I open it, there's a whole story with people I don't know yet and all kinds of adventures and deeds and battles..." Bastian - The Neverending Story


13 comments:

  1. Comforting how some books can take us back. I never read the book but did enjoy the movie.

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  2. I miss those days of reading to my boys - they wont let me any more - but then they are 15! Sigh!

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  3. What a wonderful memory. I kept quite a few of our kids favorite books. I don't have grandchildren, but I just can't part with those books.

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  4. We have that in common, along with so much more. Both my children went to bed with books and songs. I believe that one of my biggest accomplishments as a mum was ensuring that my children love books.
    Cleaning out the basement - you are brave....Heroic!!!

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  5. We always had story time before bed too. My kids were excited to jump in the covers and find out what happened to Henry and Ribsey or My Fathers Dragon, or Winnie the Pooh or whatever our night time story was.
    You are really on a clearing out roll! Way to go girl!!! You may have already reached the 366! :-)

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  6. Oh my gosh...Never ENding Story remains one of my favorite movies..never read the book, but love love love the movie!

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  7. Never Ending Story is a book full of fantasy that makes us lift the feet off the ground and fly with imagination.

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  8. Neverending Story was one of my kids' very favorites!

    =)

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  9. I share your thoughts on books and our favorite when the kids were small.. Madeline.. my girls loved the story!
    Thanks for your visit to my blog and your sweet comments.
    Sandy

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  10. Love this post! That's one thing I know I got right with my kids - reading to them a lot. It was always a special time.

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  11. Reading is such a pleasure. I'm so glad I read every night to my girls as they have developed into voracious readers and are passing the love onto the next generation.

    Tackling a basement can indeed be a daunting task!

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  12. Oh Pat, "The Neverending Story"! :) That book was one of the first presentations I held at school. Yes, really! Of course, I read it in German, the original version -- "Die unendliche Geschichte." You might be interested in checking out this blog post . I took photos of the author's grave which happens to be in Munich, Germany. Michael Ende's grave is special -- just like all his stories are.

    Hugs,
    Birgit

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  13. I wonder if this comment will take. I left one a few days ago but I was checking your I post today to see if I could read it and now my comment is gone.

    Geez.

    I love your little walk down memory lane. That's a book my kids always loved, too!

    I'm pretty sure I still have it...it would be fun to read it again!

    Thanks for a happy little stop for the letter H.

    A+

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