Fresh Pages

The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things - 
Of sun and sand and glittery rays
And starting the day with words on a page.

Okay, that may not be exactly what the Walrus said (to borrow from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) but he might have said that if he has a new journal in which to write a new page each day. At least, I can imagine that is what he would say. Leave it to Lewis Carroll to write poems that forever stick in your imagination. For some reason the rhyme got up with me this bright, summer morning. 

A new journal always inspires me. This one is from Oxford. It was the first thing I bought when I arrived in Oxford this Spring, during the Oxford Literary Festival. This blank book is made out of an old book, and filled with fresh pages. It's the perfect idea to me, as they are a beautifully restored piece of bookish history. They are not cheap, but I always end up getting one each year. Old books being re-purposed for me to write in? Yes - please!  The spine holds a secret - it's a title written in German.

I like to buy journals whenever I travel. It's a piece of that place which holds memories for me, and follows me home. Just thinking about that gets me excited. Exploring, traveling, and observing are great joys to me. I smile just thinking about all the times I have spent writing about adventures and observations from a cosy cafe whilst sipping on a cappuccino. From Iceland, Scotland, and England. I find places everywhere I go.  

I suppose I am a bit day dreamy today. I blame the new journal. See what this lovely new book and a mass of blank pages does to me? It makes my thoughts swirl with ideas and imagining myself in some favourite places here at home, or new places to come with a joy of discovery in my soul. Wandering places of old with stories to tell around every corner, and history written onto the threads of each building and on the narrow lanes. These things reach out to grab my attention and I notice with full appreciation.