In a world that is becoming more and more digital by the day, I long for the feeling of paper. All kinds of paper, even construction paper we used as children. Not great to draw with, but has a nice hand feel. Hand made paper with bumps and twigs and flowers pressed in it. Too special to use, but lovely to touch and look at. Gloriously dyed colors and metallic inks and shiny finishes, I love it all. I could easily own a paper store. But who would shop there?

I made paper with my Mom once. It was very time-consuming and we had only a few pages to show for our efforts. It was an early example of recycling. We started with newsprint, ripped into shreds and then liquified in the blender. The finished product was a bit grey in color, and I don’t think soy inks had come online yet, in the 1980’s. That was my childhood, we did things, way before they became popular.

I like the touch of the pages as I progress through a book. I love to make margin notes, (although, what I will ever use them for is still a mystery). Reading a book on my fancy back-lit iPad is nice, and probably better for my eyes, (must be, since I don’t seem to need my glasses), but it is not the same. And I don’t dare take my iPad into the hot tub.

Once you admit to liking paper, it is a slippery slope. Then we are taking a stroll through stationery stores, and art supply stores. I love back-to-school for the sole purpose of shopping for and buying all the stationery supplies. The pens, binders, dividers and of course paper.

And then the letters. The love letters, maybe if you are lucky. My husband and I lived apart for a couple of years, early in our marriage. We wrote to each other every week. I kept all those letters, safely tucked away in a waterproof box. As we run up to our 18th anniversary this year, I should pull out those treasures.

“In an age of infinite digital documentation, paper was the last safe place for secrets.”  ~ Evan Angler, Swipe