pat-a-cake

I like to bake.  I like to bake when I think because I'm a fidgeter and if my hands aren't busy then things tend to get shredded and stretched and pulled.  I also like it because baking gets results.  And sometimes I just need something little to turn out right.

I am perfectly and completely happy right now.  The christmas lights are plugged in and the dining room table is pushed aside for my easel.  Every thing smells like cake.  And it is warm so I'm wearing my favorite old shorts.

I am going to read my book while the cake cools and then I am going to get frosting everywhere and lick the knife when I am done.  In the morning I will probably groan and hate myself, but tonight is too lovely to miss.

I have a quirk.  I never lose track of time.  Never.  I never run out of gas, I never miss appointments, and I never forget to brush my teeth.  Except when I am in the middle of a good book.  Then I am completely oblivious to reality.  I skip meals and forget to shower and leave the house without makeup.

I wonder if that's what it will be like.  Finding a good book.  Some books take your breath away and sweep you right off your feet within the first paragraph.  And others go slow in the beginning.  They develop characters and settings and their poetic simplicity rings deep in your soul.  So maybe that other person that you end up with eventually, that forever person.  Maybe he's like a good book.  And maybe when you finally meet him, you let go of time and control and let yourself loosen.

Here's my take.  Fast paced books are overrated.  They take you in and use you up and then too soon they're over.  And when they're done, they're done.   There isn't any reason to read them again because you know the ending and the ending is all that matters in those types of books.  But the slower books.  The ones with dancing words that fill pages and pages.  Those are the books that you can put down and come back to over and over.  They're deep and rich and complete.  They get to your heart.  It's not the end that is important, it's how you get to the end.  It's the ups and downs and glory of the beginning and the middle that makes the end what it is.  And I think that's the kind of book that someday I would like to get lost in.