Angela's Exchange

A Comfortable Place, October 1994

Where is your comfortable place? The key word is comfort. Where do you go to make you feel better, to give you comfort, maybe even to make you happy?

One of my favorite places is the loveseat in my living room. There is only one additional requirement. It has to be equipped with a book. Almost any kind of book will do. Science fiction and fantasy has been my favorite the last few years, but any book will do.

Reading has always been a refuge. a place to getaway from it all, a place to get pumped up on new ideas, to rejuvenate.

I think my daughter's favorite place is in my lap, or in my arms. She's so cute when she starts backing up and plops in my lap (with no warning). Or when she comes at me with both arms outsteched "agh, agh." I know that one day it's going to change to "Up, up".

But, I think that she's learning from Mommy. Almost half the time now, she has a book in her hand when she does this. I know that she's more toddler than infant now when she looks at a book and turns the pages, before she tastes it. She points at the pictures and I say what they are. We laugh at the funny ones.

I hope to instill a love of reading in my daughter, because there is isn't anywhere that a book can't take you. I've started a respectable Dr Seuss collection and Beatrix Potter as well as sesame street, disney babies and of course miscellaneous Golden books. I think we have a good start.

Her favorite of late has been "the Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss. We always laugh at the line "His Feet, Her feet, fuzzy fur feet." I have always loved the way Theodore Geisel turned a phrase. It makes his books a joy to read, even when you are an adult. I read The "Cat in The HAT" as an oral interpretation for a speech 101 class. He is even flattered by imitation. One of the funniest things I ever heard was a spoof of "green eggs and ham" for the law school student audience:

"I do not like to study and cram,

I do not like it Sam-I-am."

I think that Dr. Seuss makes a comfortable place for both of us.

I want to leave you today with a (..or listen to this) passage from Green, Eggs and Ham. Think about your comfortable place. Maybe, it's curled up with a book. Or maybe you have a hobby, such as needlecraft, painting, or pontificating. Find your c

insert Green Eggs and Ham passage

Think about your comfortable place and if you need advice on a good book, just ask my daughter Margaret.