52 Project, Week 15: Hobby

52 Project, Week 15: Hobby

Choosing one hobby for this project was no easy task!  I have many, many hobbies and interests.  I love learning, I love being busy and creative.  Ultimately, at the base of that, has always been reading

I love to read.  I have always loved reading.  I can remember my Father teaching me to read my first books, The Fox and the Box and Green Eggs and Ham.  As a child, I was teased for being the girl who always had a book in her hand.  I could read 7 books in a day at one point.  My elementary school librarian told me that I read too much and I needed to get out there and live a little.  There was more to life than books!  I still laugh remembering the shock I felt.  If a librarian tells me that I read too much, it might be a wakeup call.

There is no limit to the type of book I like to enjoy.  I love learning about many different topics, so the non-fiction section is where I spend most of my time in the library.  I do love fiction, but I usually listen to those as audiobooks while I work.  With 4 small children, sitting down to enjoy a great novel can be difficult.

When it comes to learning new subjects, I love to have my children join me.  I took an anatomy course online earlier this year and I really loved it, but going through the textbook and pouring over the pages was such a thrill for me.  I read and reread so many sections, took notes and I probably drove my family crazy with my exclamations.  Everyone got a chance to learn along with me as I described the wonders of cell structure, the fascination of a neuron,  The complexity of all of our systems, working together in harmony.  It’s beautiful and awe-inspiring.  I felt closer to God, marveling in how he created us with such intricacy and detail.

Right now I’m listening to a book on neuroscience, a book on pediatrics rounds, a book on integrative holistic medicine, a book on genetics and DNA, a sci-fi novel (I read this series when it first came out.  Now I’m listening to it again while I work),  Anne of Green Gables when the kids are around, and the bible and bible study guides.  I’m reading a couple different books about camping(Minnesota Vacation Days and Camping Activity Books for Families), a book about tiny houses, The Water-Saving Garden, Dakota County in the Twentieth Century, and also, again, the bible.

Personally, I love the feel of a real book in my hands.  I love to look at them and feel their weight in my hands.  I enjoy feeling the surface of the cover, smooth on newer books and soft and bumpy on older ones.  I love turning pages.  If there are diagrams and images to enjoy, or words to mull over, I can pause and take it in.  I love hugging a book to my heart, or a stack cradled in my arms.

Overall, whether a real book or an audiobook, there is always great excitement in something new.  A new book is a whole adventure contained in one small package.  The thoughts and works of the author, which maybe took months or even years to gather and put together for our benefit is such a gift.  A book is a doorway to another place, a guide to a new curiosity, a page away from changing the rest of your life.

For this project, I photographed my daughter Cat, holding an old copy of Shakespeare.  Since my children share my love of reading, I thought it was appropriate to use one of them for my hobby project.

Cat chose to photograph her piano for her hobby project.

What is one of your hobbies?  What do you love about it? Do you love to read?  What books are you reading right now?

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 14: Favorite Scripture
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 16: Multiple
Main Page for 52 Project