Folds the Page Under

I'm sprawled along the length of a kayak..  jeans rolled up, my legs dangling to either side,  ankles drifting in the lake.  The June air is wet and there are drops of perspiration on my chest.   The juice of a sweet red plum is staining my mouth.   I'm holding a copy of On the Road,  its pinned between my first and third finger,  spread open and shading my face as I squint up at the text.  I keep losing my place and re-reading sentences..  Sal and Dean Moriarty are heading back to San Francisco.    I love reading old paperbacks.   I love the way the book feels in your hands, the way the pages turn brown and smell like travel.  I love that  I can toss one into a backpack right along with a couple of beers.   I love the way the covers get tattered and stained.    A paperback lacks pretentiousness; I like its simplicity and effortless honest square edges.    When you pick up a copy of Whitman's Leaves of Grass..  you know it is what it is... its not trying to be anything else.   I like that.  

  As I read ,  I have the habit of turning my pages under.   A page clipped at the top means this is the last page I read;  On bottom means there is something in that I find intriguing or inspiring.     A double fold -  these are pages I revisit often.  
 Sometimes I get stuck in a book..  when I keep coming back to a "folded page", ,and not reading ahead.   I'll literally re-read the same chapter again and again,   simply because its one I like.     But I have to keep telling myself at times, that there is more to the book.  

People say that life is like a book..  we're always writing our story.   I believe we fold pages under in our "life story" too.   Keeping track of our most beloved plot lines and returning to our favorite chapters.   There is a balance though, I think, between re-telling the lines we have enjoyed...  and remembering to continue reading.    For life to maintain its purpose and flow and direction,  although we might revisit old "marks", we must make an agreement to continue folding new pages under.  



Andrew Tipton