#magic of reading

[aesethewitch]

When I was a kid, we moved into a house that had a huge lilac tree out front. It was mostly rotten, and it needed to be taken down before it fell. It took a while, but eventually, it was gone.

Mostly. A couple years later, little lilac babies popped out of the ground in its place. My mom was determined to get rid of them, because she'd planted a beautiful flower garden there, and the lilac trees would overshadow and kill the whole garden. I insisted on saving at least a few saplings. She said fine, but I had to dig them out and put them in pots myself.

So, I did. I spent days digging little lilac bushes out of the ground and putting them into pots. Some couldn't be saved, but some could. When all was said and done, I had five brand-new lilac saplings. Seven or eight years old, and it was my absolute pride and joy.

Three died due to sun scorching, severe drought that no amount of watering could save, and perhaps just being moved from their place in the ground. But two survived, and I was awfully proud of them! I'd go out and talk to them every single day. I watered them by hand and made sure they were fertilized properly. I learned all about their favored environments, and I was determined to make sure they lived.

One of my mom's friends saw what I was doing with the lilacs. She asked if she could have one to put in her backyard, and I agreed on the condition that she take very, very good care of it.

It's now fucking enormous. I'm talking ten feet tall and bursting with beautiful purple flowers every spring. My mom still gets updates each year as they start to bloom, which she forwards to me. And all I can think is, "That's my friend! Thriving some twenty years on, there it is."

The other tree nearly died, too. It lived in a pot for far, far too long. I wanted to plant it somewhere in my parents' yard, but my mom was reluctant. Eventually, we agreed to put it in the far back garden. It grew okay for many years, despite the shade, but in all these years, it's never bloomed.

Last year, the massive tree casting massive shadows over the lilac and the garden cracked in half and fell. It tumbled into the garden, crushing part of the nearby shed and destroying a few plants beneath it.

It missed my lilac by inches.

The clean-up is long done. The rest of the tree has been cut down, and my lilac has full sunlight for the first time in fifteen years. It won't bloom this year, I know. But it's got new shoots up. It's taller than ever. I spent half an hour a few weeks ago praising it for surviving all this time, dreaming about its future and telling it how I believe it'll become the tall beauty it's always been meant to be.

I think next year, I'll see flowers.

[kensatou]

women………….. | DOROHEDORO

(by the way. this is noi.)

[bisclavaret]

a day late to my 6 years on t anniversary ✨🏳️‍⚧️ a short comic about looking back

[wyrmfedgrave]

Do You Believe in Magic? On The Timeless Charm of Children's Books https://lithub.com/do-you-believe-in-magic-on-the-timeless-charm-of-childrens-books/

You don't have to sell me on reading. I grew up with a World Book Ency. & many children's books on history & science.

Now I find myself as being well read & conscious of the many possibilities in life.

My 1st library, not far from the Bronx Stairs showcased in "Joker," hooked me on books for life!!

The modern "quick news note" is okay to introduce you to an interesting subject.

But, it should be followed up with more in-depth knowledge than most websites can provide.

The move to shortening knowledge might serve business needs - but, it can't go into subtleties like a good book does.

I've followed my trip thru literature by doing the same for my cousins, nieces & nephews.

Now that they're getting older, they all read above the usual grade they're in...

I'd also like to note the growth of the children's market into kid themed graphic novels - which the kiddies just love!!

Easy to read, beautifully drawn & bursting with problems that kids face everyday - what's not to love?!

[ruporas]

dragon meat, you, and me

[wizard-loving-wizard]

you don't even have to ask. i'll beg.

Brennan Lee Mulligan / Anne Carson / Emily Wilson / Jaelyn Dennis / Anne Carson / Mitski / inanotherunivrse / Alicia Ostriker / Clarice Lispector / Source Unknown / souldistracted / @kermit-coded / Source Unknown / @professor-pants / souldistracted / Ricardo Martinez / Anne Carson / Phoebe Bridgers / @thegirlhoodtheory / Silas Denver Melvin / Mary Oliver / Bombay Bicycle Club / @autopsytableromance / Margaret Atwood

[palarien]

sketched this out at jury duty actually

[egophiliac]

buckle up lads we're going BACK INTO THE BOOK

[shisasan]

June, 1936 Journals of Anais Nin 1934-1939 [volume 2]

[clarissasbakery]

walk with me, walk with me yall….

[raddestrose]

Shoutout to Shen Yuan the only man who actually read porn for the plot

[h0oty]

based on my life except the food is art and twilight isnt there

[peofun1]

playing MTG with people who have been in the game for like 20 years is so insufferable sometimes

every turn they're like "I play Cock Goblin of Guzzleberg" and everyone else at the table nods and goes "ah yes of course, the Cock Goblin, classic" and doesn't explain.

so I'm like okay. what does that do. and they go "well it has a Guzzler effect" and I'm like okay great what the FUCK is a Guzzler Effect™

and then after like 10 minutes of trying to get them to explain, eventually I figure out that there was a card called Guzzler Greebling that was only printed ONCE in 1998, and its text was "when this creature ETBs, everyone at the table has to suck your dick" and this card got so popular in Standard at the time that now all effects that involve dick-sucking are called "Guzzlers" by the players

[thedavinoparadox]

Reading Wrap-Up (August) - Part 2

Selenio, 14th September 2023 As announced, here now the second part of everything I read in August… Terra di Sicilia by Mario Giordano (2022) The generational drama surrounding Barnaba Carbonaro, a boy from Sicily whose affinity with numbers helps him grow an empire and eventually bring his family to Germany, his place of longing. I have to admit, I mainly bought this book because of it’s…

[home-of-the-squirmle]

Very normal dream about your lab partner 🥴🪶

Fanart of this jayvik fic by @ticklishfiend !

( Alt Jayce expression under the cut )

[sibbydoo]

RESONANCE!!

So…I recently got obsessed with Soul Eater….