Winter blahs? Read a good book!

Indiana winters are typically overcast, gray, and not much fun to experience. How can one make the best of a nasty winter evening? Most television shows are marginal, at best, and the "entertainment value scale" rates close to zero on many choices available. Board games are fun (I particularly like Dominoes) and are a great way to fellowship and develop friendly competition. However, I find the best way to engage your mind is to read a good book.

I just finished "Perelandra", the second book in a science fiction trilogy by C.S. Lewis. Just before Christmas, I finished "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens (I always try to precede the Christmas holidays by reading a Dicken's novel--there's just something warm and engaging about the rhythmic and classic English usage in a Dicken's novel!). Currently I'm working on "That Hideous Strength" by C.S. Lewis, his third in the above mentioned trilogy.

The best results (for me) lie in creating a book list (Ahhhh---a "Book-it List"!!!) posting titles on it that are suggested by others, or being reminded of classics suggested years ago by teachers and professors that I just never found the time (or interest) to pursue. It's amazing what a few years of experience will do to one's reading perspective...

The public library is one of the community's best kept secrets. I love browsing, re-familiarizing myself with card catalogues (most are online now), and, occasionally, just leafing through the pages of those books that look interesting. Checking out those books that I have chosen through my search efforts are like taking home new friends.

Settling down with a cup of coffee in my reading chair at home, and opening the first few pages of my new read dissolves away the nasties that may be lurking outside on a blustery winter day. Reading engages the mind (isn't God wonderful to give us the ability to think??), and dispels the blahs that January and its siblings dispenses. Reading the words and forming mind pictures are food for the soul. There is a huge difference between having an image thrust at one (through television or other media) and building images through what one reads on the written page. The written word can be paused and reflected over--electronic images are a blip on the screen. What a wonderful gift.

So, are you bored? Grab a book today and take a journey anywhere you'd like to go. It is one of the finest ways to rush toward Spring.