The Wilson 6 Chronicles

This is approximately how many miles we walked this weekend on our maiden voyage to the land of Mouse. One of the conditions of moving to Florida was that we got a house with a guest room, a house with a pool, and tickets to go to Disney World. We 2 out of 3 ain't bad. So this weekend, we finally sucked it up, threw down enough money to make my head spin (something not easy to do) and heading westward to the land of Mouse. And it was Fabulous. We surprise Zachary with the trip, telling him that we were going to go shopping at a big outlet mall in Orlando. This was enough to ruin his entire month since he hates shopping with a passion. The trip seemed to take forever because 1. I hate keeping surprises a secret and 2. I really really really wanted to go to Disney. When we finally got off the interstate, Zachary started asking questions about Orlando and it was really hard to keep up the charade, then once we saw the Pearly Gates, I mean the entrance to Disney, the game was up. And I yelled surprise and was rewarded with the biggest smile I have ever seen.

So I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't love to read. I'm sure there were a few early years when reading wasn't as important as say, learning to walk or pee in the potty but otherwise, my love affair with books has been a long and meaningful one. Just walking into a library or book store is like an addict walking into a crackhouse. I take a long deep breath- I love the smell of books, the looks of books lines up on shelves, I love the way a new book crackles when you open it up and the way an old book feels- like it's made just to fit into your hand. When I was a sophomore in high school, we were assigned a book to read called The Year the Lights Came on by Terry Kay. It was a pretty good book about the things that divide a small town (the haves from the have-nots, if you will) and the change that is brought about when the Rural Electrification Administration bring electricity to the have-nots. Well, there's more to the story but that is moot in my anecdote. Anyway, there was a mom of a girl in my class who has issue with the book because it contained profanity. If I remember correctly, a character used the word damn. Gasp, the shock. So my English teacher (who was one of my favorites) was under fire and the book was going to be banned from being taught in my school. So, I stood up for my teacher, wrote a long essay on the merits of the book, and took it before the school board on why I thought it shouldn't be banned. And it wasn't banned. To this day, that is one of my proudest moments because aside being a book lover, I am also a flaming liberal and feel that there's a reason why we have the First Amendment. While there are a number of things out there I don't choose to read for whatever reason, at least I have that choice. And in that vein of thought, let's all gear up to celebrate Banned Book Week. Pick out your favorite banned books (many of which I have read and loved), pick it up and read it. Read it in public, tell people you are reading. I personally recommend To Kill a Mockingbird (it is in my Top 5 of favorite books Ever) but there are tons of great ones out there.