Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

I don’t feel compelled to read a book in any particular order.  Of course, that is easier to do with non-fiction.  You certainly can’t do that with a novel and know what is going on.

It is very rarely I read a book sequentially.  For that to happen I have to be riveted by the subject content and writing.  I can count on my one hand how many books I have read that way recently.

Usually I skip around a book and read it in quick bursts.  For someone to feel they have to read a book every time page by page in order is a trap:  after awhile you don’t want to read any more.  It is too much like work.

I do not feel that compunction.  There are really no rules to the way you read.  You make your own.  And you can break them any time.

Tags: book novel, books, no rules to the way you read, non fiction, read a book, read page by page, reading, too much like work, writing
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The grass is not greener elsewhere.  It is so tempting to believe that but it is not.  Sometimes paradise is right in front of you.  This year I discovered a large raspberry patch within an hundred yards on the street I live on the edge of some woods.

This was to be the second year I was going to pick raspberries in a patch I discovered last year on my property.  And then I discovered this patch.  I did not know who the owners were.  The berries were wild.  I picked enough at the new patch for at least two pies.

It amazed me I never noticed that patch before.  It was ten feet in from the road and I happened to notice it when my dog was sniffing around there.  What else am I missing right under my feet?

I was going home from church and took the long way because the land was wilder and I never knew what wildlife I would see from this road.

I was not disappointed this time:  I flushed a dozen wild turkey hens.  I do see wild turkey around here but I had never seen so many at one time.  I was thrilled to say the least.

I never know for sure what discovery I will make next time.  We have thousands of books between us and there is an universe in each of them so I have no need to travel too far to explore the next universes.

And that does not even include universe after universe in my music– thousands of LP’s, cassettes and CD’s.

I never run out of things to explore.  I do not have to go to far but don’t get me wrong I do enjoy traveling once in a while.  I just don’t feel I have to.

Tags: animals, books, cassette, CD, church, discovery, dogs, explore, grass is not greener, LP, music, nature, paradise, pets, raspberry patch, raspberry pie, right under my feet, travel, universe after universe, wild berries, wild turkey hen, wildlife, woods
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Why do we care so much about things?!  You can not take your material possessions with you when your time comes.  It says in the Bible ‘from dust you come and to dust you shall return’.

I am as guilty as anyone of this.  My music, my writings and journals and books are far too important to me.  Yet when my appointed hour comes, I can no longer hang on to any of these things.

Why do we act as if we can take our possessions with us when we die?  We try up till the last moment to retain some control of our most valuable possessions.  We make wills.

The fact still remains we can’t take them with us.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in the things that really have more lasting effects?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest time while you are on earth in relationships–your immediate family, your friends, your kids?

Once you are gone all people have are their memories of you, the love and care you have demonstrated toward them.  You can have far reaching effects if you have invested time and love in others while you were on this earth.  People you have loved have memories of you long after you are gone.

Far too many people do not invest time in others.  They spend their whole life in accumulating things.  No one remembers how hard you worked in your lifetime.  They remember the love you have demonstrated toward them.  So before it is too late, do something about it.  Examine your priorities.  You have one life.

Tags: accumulating things, appointed hour, Bible, books, can't take it with you, care, dust-to-dust, examine your priorities, family, friends, invest in relationships, invest time and love in others, journals, kids, lifetime, long after you are gone, love, love is remembered, make will, material possessions, memories, music, on this earth, people remember the love, writing, you have one life
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Sometimes I leave my newspapers (and magazines) unread and eventually pitch them.  I have no illusions.  If I miss one story or one article, my life goes on.  I never forgot what Thoreau said in “Walden“:  ‘why read the same thing rehashed over and over?’

There is a glut of information out there.  One thing has never changed:  the saturation point.  There is so much information you can absorb at one time.  As King Solomon says in the Bible:  you can be weary of too much study.

These words were written several thousand years ago.  Nothing has changed in that regard.  There is so much you can study, read.  You still have to live your life.  Sure you can learn from newspapers, books and magazines but if you do not integrate that knowledge into your life it is all for naught.

Thus, I have no reservations about not getting to any written material.  There is so much you can read and so much you can absorb at one time and you certainly have to live your life.  I have absolutely no guilt about leaving any newspapers, (etc.) unread.

Tags: Bible, books, glut of information, God, King Solomon, live your life, magazines, saturation point, Solomon, study, Thoreau, too much study, unread newspapers, Walden
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This (???) is often no need to leave my room.  My music is here.  Each note, each song, each LP, CD and the cassettes I have put together from my vast music collection, they are all universes within universes.  That does not even mention the many books on my shelves.  Then there are the birds I view when the sun comes up and spend hours doing so.  I never have to go too far to explore the next universe.  My mind roams all the time.  And that is just one large room in this house.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, books, cassette, CD, do not have to leave my room, explore the next universe, God, knowledge, learning, LP, music, music collection, my mind roams, nature, songs, time, universes within universes
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I have more than enough unread books and that does not include the steady stream of daily newspapers and magazines that come to my household.  Do I feel guilty I can not keep up with my reading, that I never read the complete newspaper from cover to cover?  Certainly not.  I am reminded of King Solomon’s words in the Bible and I am not sure I can quote that verbatim:  he says we can become weary of too much study.  I read what I most want to read.  I scan newspapers and magazines reading what most interests me.  I do not feel compelled to read every word.  That would be a trap and make reading onerous instead of the joy it is.  The words of Solomon written over 2,000 years ago have not changed.  In an era of instant communication one thing has not changed through the ages–the saturation point.  Each person can absorb so much information and then becomes sated.

Life is always a balancing act.  Reading is only one part of my life.  I need time to absorb and reflect on the significance of what I read and for that matter I need time to simply reflect periodically where I am going or have been.  That takes time and often quiet.  Reading is only one thing I do and is punctuated by empty spaces.  I never feel guilty I have not read enough or thoroughly enough.  It is all relative.  One has to live his life.  Ideas are only one thing.  Then one has to put into practice what he/she learns.  That is only possible if reflection takes place.  And that, of course, takes time.

Tags: absorb and reflect, balance, become weary of too much study, Bible, books, empty spaces, God, ideas are only one thing, joy of reading, King Solomon, knowledge, learning, magazines, quiet, reading, reading what most interests me, reflection, saturation point, time, unread newspapers
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