things that fall out of books
i think someone has already done this idea, making a book out of things that fall out of books, that is...to me that's part of what gives novels another layer of life: who owned them, how did they use them, what did they write in them and...what falls out if you give the spine a gentle shake and flutter?
my mother recently gave me a copy of "the garden encyclopedia" which is not just any gardening book because it belonged to my great-grandma, who i'm named after, nettie cole. the physical pages are holding up quite well considering she really used it and it was published in 1936.
out fell two things: 1) a recipe for natural pesticides in my great-grandmother's writing and 2) part of a letter from a friend of hers.
it got me to wondering...did she grab the letter and tear off a part to take notes on before heading out to the yard? what was her day like? busy? just another one? special in some way? i can have a tendency to glamorize history, but i know that she worked hard and had ordinary days just like i do. i want to work hard like she did and leave a legacy.
i enjoyed thinking about these things as i winterized my garden yesterday. pulling up stakes to wash and dry in the sun to store for next spring...digging up potatoes...pulling up tomatoes...remembering how beautiful and tall the sunflowers stood when i was in flip flops next to them...now standing in a wool hat and boots, digging through the frosted ground and throwing leftover greens to the hens. it was one of those crisp days where the blue sky shows off what yellow leaves remain and you can tell where the sun has been by the frozen patches of where it has not been.
thank you, garden. thank you, nettie.
what interesting things have you found tucked in books?
my mother recently gave me a copy of "the garden encyclopedia" which is not just any gardening book because it belonged to my great-grandma, who i'm named after, nettie cole. the physical pages are holding up quite well considering she really used it and it was published in 1936.
out fell two things: 1) a recipe for natural pesticides in my great-grandmother's writing and 2) part of a letter from a friend of hers.
it got me to wondering...did she grab the letter and tear off a part to take notes on before heading out to the yard? what was her day like? busy? just another one? special in some way? i can have a tendency to glamorize history, but i know that she worked hard and had ordinary days just like i do. i want to work hard like she did and leave a legacy.
i enjoyed thinking about these things as i winterized my garden yesterday. pulling up stakes to wash and dry in the sun to store for next spring...digging up potatoes...pulling up tomatoes...remembering how beautiful and tall the sunflowers stood when i was in flip flops next to them...now standing in a wool hat and boots, digging through the frosted ground and throwing leftover greens to the hens. it was one of those crisp days where the blue sky shows off what yellow leaves remain and you can tell where the sun has been by the frozen patches of where it has not been.
thank you, garden. thank you, nettie.
what interesting things have you found tucked in books?
I love it when I buy a used book and there's a ticket stub in it...I have bought several which had plane ticket stubs in them, but my favorite one was a stub for an Indigo Girls concert. I felt a kinship with the mystery person who, like me, enjoyed the Indigo Girls and enjoyed the same author! Sadly, I can't remember which book it was in.
ReplyDeleteHow fun! If only new tickets would fall magically out of books before events...
ReplyDelete