e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a!
Oct
17
I had to go to the library to pick up a source for a summary of research I need to do in my comp class. As I looked along the stacks of encyclopedia Brittanica and Americana, this came to mind:
A-Amer
Amer-Athyl
Athyl-Bete
Bete-Bubo
Bubo-Cell
Cell-Colo
Colo-Deci
Deci-Egyp
Egyp-Fars
Fars-Faru
Faru-Fren
That is my 9 year-old self who comes back singing that in a silly voice having memorized the spines of the only books of the encyclopedia my parents had the interest to buy. I laid on my belly in a cool pair of beige trackpants with brown stripes and a gymnastics t-shirt on the white eyelit comforter with my chin on the matching pillow shams staring endlessly at the books memorizing them. They were on a shelf in a room my dad used for an office until my grandparents moved in temporarily when they moved from another state back to The Land of Milk and Honey. I can still smell the honeysuckle perfume from Avon my gramma gave me and see the little red 9-v AM transistor radio on the shelf on top of the encylopedias playing Dust in the Wind by Kansas on the Mighty 690. I have no idea if I ever opened one of those books, but they made their impression on me nonetheless.
Incidentally the encyclopedia hid The Joy of Sex, stashed there by my uncle and his wife who at another point in time came to stay with us when I’d moved to another room. My mom was a master gift-hider and behind the books was at least one place that had been previously fruitful when hunting for them. She was famous for hiding things in plain sight like Easter baskets hanging in the living room all day where ferns usually were or Christmas gifts in the closet waiting to be found if only you’d clean your room or in trash bags in the corner of the garage. Every now and then I’d check to see if there was a gift in reserve and what a surprise to find that instead!
October 17th, 2006 at 8:52
Hey, thanks for the link. Some of my fondest memories from childhood center on my reclusive bookworm days … when I used to curl up under the covers with my reference books, encyclopedias and a flashlight. We toyed with the idea of buying a set for our three kids but then decided against it since it would be outdated upon print.