Celebrating National Pencil Day


When I was seven years old my grandfather made me a simple pine desk for Christmas. It came with a stool, two side shelves and a single drawer. Inside that drawer was a pad of paper and two yellow, sharpened #2 pencils. That was the moment I knew I wanted to be a writer. I really didn't know what that meant. I think the pencils had a lot to do with it. I wanted to draw with them. Write. Scribble. Fill that pad of paper with original artwork. All kinds of artwork. 
I fell in love not only with my desk that Christmas morning but with pencils as well and the infatuation has never gone away. 
So, when I discovered there really is a "National Pencil Day" I had to celebrate it by sharing my infatuation for pencils with anyone who might like to read about it.

I have a "few" boxes of pencils. Colored pencils. Broken pencils. Really sharpened pencils. Pencils with erasers. Pencils minus erasers. Pencils with funny erasers. And lots of yellow #2 pencils. I also have a few drawers holding many odds and ends of pencils. 

When I begin to write a new story or blog post or book or when I get an idea for an illustration, I like to use a pad of paper (preferably a legal pad of paper) and a pencil. Simple. No technology to start the process. Just me, a pad of paper and a pencil. It may sound strange but using the pencil frees my thoughts. Nudges my imagination. Holding a pencil gives me strength. A pencil's feel and smell comfort me. I find nothing comforting in a computer although it is a necessity as the process moves along.

Not surprisingly, I loved pencil cases when growing up. I never could get my fill. I had the plain ones. Many plain ones over the years. They just held pencils and came with a zipper. They were plastic and smelled very good. I had a wooden pencil holder. It came with a small sharpener and one bigger than normal wooden pencil. I loved my over-sized plastic pencil case held together by a snap. I loved the snap. It made noise. 
My pencil case complete with a ruler as part of the slide on and off top as well as a sharpener and multiplication tables etched into the top was a favorite. 
But my most very favorite pencil case wasn't mine. It belonged to a boy in my kindergarten class. It came with drawers and in a few of the drawers he kept jumbo sized crayons. They smelled so good. I asked Santa Claus for a pencil case (actually box) just like his, but I guess Santa thought I had enough pencil cases.
Now as an adult, I realize I had more than enough. 

On March 30th of this year 2023, hold your pencil high. Wave it in the breeze. Doodle with it. Write a poem. And if you make a mistake or need to make a change, use your eraser and start over because March 30th of this year 2023 is National Pencil Day! 

Hip. Hip Hurray for National Pencil Day!


 

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