Recently another birthday came around. Admittedly, the numbers are getting pretty high. I celebrated with family members who live in my vicinity and received lots of good wishes from others farther away. I’m grateful to, and for, all of you. I also received cards from some of my neighbors here at W.P. And someone sang happy birthday to me over the phone. When the friend called, I was at my family birthday party. The next day, when I checked the answering machine, instead of leaving a message, she had sung Happy Birthday. Nice, Martha!
Anyone who knows me very well knows that I have been an avid reader for most of my life. I fell in love with the printed word as soon as I learned how to read. Or perhaps before I could read, because my desire to do so was what led me at age four, to take my little brother and run away to school, so I could found out what was in those books. Growing up, I can remember hearing my mother say so many times, “She is probably somewhere with her nose in a book.”
As I got older, libraries and book stores became two of my most favorite places. Since I couldn’t seem to walk out of a book store with only one book and ended up with an armful, I forced myself to stay away from book stores and spent more time at the local library instead - much more economical for me.
Much has changed since that day I ran away to school so many years ago, including my vision, unfortunately. For some time I have frequented the ‘larger print’ section of the library for the most part. The fine print of newer books makes them very difficult for me to read. As do other books with smaller or very narrow fonts.
Recently, I saw a news item where book publishers were going to make these types of fonts even more prevalent, because they would use so much less ink and cut their printing costs. I wonder if they have given a thought to eye strain for the reader!
Another big change for readers is the ability to download and read books on a small computer-like ebook, called a Kindle. That was my special birthday gift this year, along with a gift card to load up [download] some books. Needless to say I was/am very pleased.
I remember the fleeting thought of wondering if I would have a problem with the font size. Knowing my love of reading and my vision difficulties, the first thing my daughter-in-law pointed out to me was that the text size could be changed to suit the reader. The case has its own built in little light, so you don’t have to worry about having sufficient light, as well as a reading size that is comfortable.
I’m looking forward to many hours of enjoyment with this new reading tool. I’ve got the Kindle and gift card register, am learning how to use it, and have downloaded one book so far. I still have one library book to finish reading, so I can take the books I now have out on loan, back to the library. Then I can concentrate on this new reading experience. That’s the special gift I mentioned, Trish.
