Reading: Research or Recreation?

It's hard to justify a post about reading when it's 70 degrees outside and the sun's Siren call is beckoning many of us.  Attempting to live up to its schizophrenic reputation, March came into Kentucky as a roaring ice and snow storm last week and threatens to bring rain and freezing temperatures by tomorrow.  But sandwiched between these blustery spells has been a slice of heaven bringing the promise of paradise on the other side.  Last week's winter wonderland (the worst this season) had me snuggled seven-layers deep on my couch.  I spent hours reading, savoring the sedate activity before spring's bustle of activity catapults me into the kinetic and outdoor world.  In my opinion, reading is an oft-overlooked element of the auto-didactic, do-it-yourself lifestyle.  It is a fundamental homestead skill.  Blissfully, I blur the lines between research and recreation.  I admit I rarely have time for many of the bestsellers or latest novels, but works on How-To, witty philosophical musings, food, nature, and even classic literature keep me plenty busy.  I have an unending list of titles I'm eager to keep churning through.  I make time to read just like I make time to grow my garden, cook from scratch, or care for livestock.  The homesteading two-step of researching and doing is just that, a dance in which two indispensable partners must find their rhythm without overpowering each other. I don't consider reading a luxury; I consider it a gratifying requirement of the lifestyle I've chosen.  Despite the frenetic pace in which most of us live, there are subtle ways to lace the schedule with a good read.  So, dear readers, bear with me: Below are my tongue-in-cheek tips for How to Read.

How to...

Read Like a Pioneer:  Last I heard, Daniel Boone didn't have reality TV, a tablet, or ear buds.  I bet he spent evenings cozied up in a bear skin with a good story! Actually, in Daniel Boone: the Life and Legend of an American Pioneer, historian John Mack Faragher writes that Boone would entertain his hunting companions by reading to the group.  How's that for a manly woodsman!  Reading Tip 1: Unplug.  Turn off the television, games, and phones.  This can be a permanent change or a temporary one (certain days of the week, evenings, or weekends).  Weldon and I do not have cable for our TV or texting on our cell phones.  Channel and web-surfing, e-mail forwards, and drawn out text “conversations” take up far more time than one might think.  Go old school without the technology for a while.  It doesn't have to be back to Boone-style, but even techno-rationing can yield time for clear-headed thinking, reading, other means of recreation, and relating with friends and family.     

Read Like an Airline:  For anyone who's never been on a plane, I'll explain my logic.  Once seated in your snug metallic environs, there's typically a tri-fold cardboard draping onto your knees from the seat back in front of you.  It looks deceivingly like a menu. Unabashedly bursting your bubble, I'll assure you that it has nothing to do with food -- it's more of an airborne survival guide in case of turbulence, water-landing, etc. Behind this is a magazine full of travel articles and every known item made for suckers with credit cards.  I usually leaf through its glossy pages for the entertainment value alone: talking toilet paper caddy, anyone?  Tucked in the back pages of this magazine are the crossword puzzle, the on-flight music/movies (if you're lucky enough to be on an airline that still offers these luxuries), and the skymap.  The skymap looks like a spider web draped over an outline of North America, South America, Europe, etc. depicting cities where this airline can take ticket holders.  If nothing else, the skymap reminds me of all the places I've been and all the possible destinations that I've yet to get a ticket for.  Reading Tip 2:  Whether it's a long "trans-oceanic" topic that keeps you turning page after page, book after book or a short "commuter jaunt" that simply gets you from one place to the other, remember that there are a lot of options when it comes to reading material.  Consider a new genre, author, or subject. You can always go back to a favorite destination, but think of all the interesting things you have yet to discover!

Read Like a Bird:  Have you ever watched a bird? Typically, it will swoop in and land on the ground like it's on a mission.  It scopes out the scene with a jittering head twist.  Pivoting, it bobs for a speck of who knows what, stands erect, bobs again, stands erect, and flicks its head in another jittery convulsion. Every so often there's a flittering scurry as if an electric pulse propels the avian creature to a new spot.  Then it will settle into the same bobbing, jerking, twisting, hopping sequence.  In no time a ten-foot radius has been covered in a pinball pattern.  And without warning, the bird flutters off.  Reading Tip 3:  A wise friend once said, "There are too many books in existence to get stuck in the pages of one that simply doesn't do it for you." Life's too short to waste time on a bad read...if it doesn't give you the information or the experience you're looking for, move on, little bird!  

Read Like a Seed:  Seeds have a particular cycle -- dormancy, sprouting, growth, flowering, fruiting, decay.  One stage leads to the next and the cycle begins anew.  The seed, placed in the right location, will absorb the particular elements it needs, foster growth, and perpetuate the success of its species. Our annual cycles on the homestead may not be quite as predictable as the seed's, but they are pretty close.  To all things, even reading, there seems to be a season.  Reading Tip 4: Give in to your personal reading seasonality, both literally and figuratively.  Literally, I tend to follow the natural seasons.  I read more in the long lazy evenings of winter than in the long busy days of summer. Yes, I'm always reading something, but the year is definitely lopsided in this regard. Figuratively, I tend to fluctuate with the subject I gravitate toward depending on the practical, emotional, or intellectual "season" I'm in.  For a period I may focus on a particular subject i.e. gardening, food preservation, herbal remedies, etc.  Then, I switch to something else.  Sometimes, more than a dense How To, I need a comedy or a feel-good classic.  As much as I can, I try to pay attention to what I'm in the "mood" for, as much as what information I need to absorb.  No matter what, I figure it's bound to bear good fruit for me in the long run. 

Writing a post about reading might seem like a "preaching to the choir" sort of exercise.  Obviously, my readers are engaging in this noble pastime as we speak (uh...as they read...or however it needs to be put).  Perhaps I should simply be congratulating this group with a high five and a "keep doing what you're doing"!

All I can say is that I had a dual source of inspiration.  First, I often hear folks rue the lack of time they can dedicate to reading.  For this, I recommend Reading Tip 1 and 4.  Perhaps there are snippets of time hidden away behind other activities or perhaps this simply isn't a reading season for you. Second, as I wiled away a number of snowy hours last week reading about alternative building techniques, I pulled myself up from the pages at one point and said, "Self, this is awesome that you get to do all this reading.  This is research for the life you've chosen to live.  Guilty?  No, you should not feel guilty for being in your pajamas on a snowy afternoon reading away the daylight!  Do you feel guilty for being out until dark working in the garden on humid summer nights? Didn't think so." I may not be paid in dollars, but I reap rich rewards indeed. And with that, I dove back into my book.