Confessions of a readaholic: Slice of Life 2 of 31

Today I love READING!  This seems like a silly thing for a teacher to say...well of course, I love reading...I'm a teacher for Pete's sake!  I'm supposed to love reading!  But there's more to it than that.  You see...I'm a readaholic.    
Those who know me have heard me make this confession before.  I read like an alcoholic drinks.  When I allow myself to open the pages of a book...a good book...one that I have chosen to read, such as the featured text in today's photo, Fig Pudding, by Ralph Fletcher...when I make that choice...the rest of the world just dissolves away into nothingness.  The summer after the newlywed Man and I first moved out here to the prairie I spent whole days in my jammies on the back porch...unread books on one side of my lounge chair and finished ones on the other.  I have learned to read while drying my hair.  (Paperbacks are hard - you have to have just the right sized phone or bottle of lotion to weight down the book and keep it open.)  I have denied myself entire nights of sleep...much to my chagrin the following day when I very nearly nodded off while reading aloud!  I have racked up library fines rivaling our grocery bill.  I have burned meals, forgotten appointments, and at times caused The Man to say things like, "Oh no...you've got a book?  Ok...see you in a couple days."  (Alas, I am also not a very fast reader!)  I have gotten better over the years...unfortunately because I often just simply deny myself the pleasure of even opening a book. 
But today...today was a blisfully unscheduled Saturday!  Yes, there were other tasks that needed tending to, and a few that actually did get done, but none that would cause the world to cease spinning if they were neglected for one more day.  So today I spent some time with Cliff Abernathy and his loud, messy, silly, happy, normal family.  I wiped away tears at Uncle Billy's advice for Cliff: "When someone you love dies, you get a big bowl of sadness put down in front of you, steaming hot.  You can start eating now, or you can let it cool and eat it bit by bit later on.  Either way, you end up eating the whole thing.  There's really no way around it."  I giggled and snorted at the antics of Nate, Brad, Teddy, and Josh, and recognized my own darling daughter in Cliff's sister, Cyn. 
That's what reading does for me...it takes me away from real life for a time, and then brings me right back around to it by teaching me lessons I would never have even thought to ask for.   
Tomorrow I will get some more work done...maybe I'll even do the dishes!  But for today...I love reading!