SECRET PLEASURES

YIPES. I was on vacation last week and didn't work on any blogs because I thought I had several spares. None of them are actually finished, so I have nothing clever this week. (Yes, some of you are thinking, he NEVER has anything clever. POO!)

In yesterday's paper there was an article on some people's secret pleasures. I confess to having several not so secret pleasure's, one of them being reading children's books. These aren't books I read as a child, but ones I discovered as an adult, so maybe they have a certain attraction for me that is quite unlike the attraction they have for children.

One book is Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I love the quirkiness of the writing. I first learned about Alice from the Disney cartoon which really drew on both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. They are quite different books, with the Wonderland one being the superior. Carroll certainly was a prototype for J. K. Rowling in that he learned the value of merchandising his literary creation with all sorts of add ons you could purchase–like the Wonderland Stamp Case.

The other great discovery was Kenneth Grahame'sThe Wind in the Willows which I have in the wonderful edition illustrated by Eric Kincaid. You sense right away the much more relaxed Edwardian atmosphere of this book. You marvel at the arrogant stupidity of Mr. Toad, the common sense wisdom of Badger, the leisurely life of Rat, the deep feelings of Mole, and the
meanness of the stoats and weasels, especially the Chief Weasel who is the cause of so much trouble (I think I've met him somewhere.) I'd really like to know Rat and Mole and Badger and Otter and the Mice children. When I need a refuge from the frenzy of life, I turn to the Willows.

Well, may your journey take you to some imaginary places also. May the Lord God bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne