"All this happened, more or less."

Ten Five Things I Will Never Take for Granted: 1.        The tires on my car. I remember being taught by my driving instructor to inspect the tires before driving every time. How many of us do that, honestly? I don’t. Most of us only think about our tires when they are flat, or we notice a screw in them. However, I do often think about them while driving. When I have successfully navigated a debris field without any damage to my tires, when they maintain traction on the road despite it raining just enough to mix with oil and make super-slick streets, and when I accidentally clip a curb and they maintain their form, I am thankful that they are as rugged and reliable as they are. Are they perfect? No; I’ve been halted by a small screw or piece of glass before, but the fact that we wake up expecting them to be in working order says a lot. 2.        Telephones. By the time I was born, telephones were everywhere. Rotary p...

As often happens when I enter a book store, usually under the guise of purchasing a text as a gift or one for classroom use, I find myself unable to ignore the novels whispering "read me" as I pass. Though I try to navigate the shelved corridors as though with blinders on, focused on the sole purpose for my excursion, the temptation to look upon old familiar friends and new, unexplored pages proves too irresistible, and my eyes inevitably linger overlong on books that make their way into my arms and through the checkout line. Such was the case today, when a small table boldly titled: "Books Everyone Should Read" grabbed my attention. The first thing I noticed was that many of the novels stacked five-deep are books I have recommended to my AP Literature students as having "literary merit" and, more importantly, as thought-provoking and beautifully crafted texts. Then, snuggled in between such masters as Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and For Whom th...