Slice of Life

The Slice of Life Challenge was created by the people over at the blog Two Writing Teachers. The challenge is to write about some part of your day and share it each Tuesday then give feedback to at least three other bloggers.

Worth a second read at home :)

"Do you ever stop reading?" I heard an incredulous voice ask from above. 

I glanced up and said with a smile, "I'm resting between sets - and no, I don't stop reading if I can help it." 

My co-worker had found me at the YMCA on an exercise mat. I was on my back holding a book above my head reading as I rested between sets of my ab workout. Originally, I had only planned to read while I rode a stationary bicycle, but I had the books next to me when I started my floor workout and couldn't resist. Emily's Blue Period was one of the books I brought and one chapter between sets was just about the perfect amount of time for resting.

Donalyn Miller (author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild) would call this "reading in the edges." She says, "Sneaking precious minutes here and there for reading is an acquired skill" (p. 11 RitW). It's something that I mastered in childhood - carrying books with me to all sorts of activities and reading whenever I was stuck someplace. Even if I was without a book, I read anything I could find such as encyclopedias, telephone books (not kidding - the ads could be fun & some of the names too), magazines of all kinds, and ingredient lists among other things. Sure I prefer to read a lovely book in a cozy chair with tea and tons of time, but I capture reading moments in many other locations gathering minutes that eventually add up to hours. 

Stealing time like that makes me feel like I am getting away with something and those extra minutes of reading are like unwrapping an unexpected gift.