Sunday, July 19, 2009

Karma, The Book

Recently, I was cleaning or at least moving things around and dusting shelves where the books reside. It is a dangerous deal to get me next to books, as the job may or may not get done. That is, whether I find something really interesting, or I haven't read it yet. This time, I did not get the job done.
On a very high shelf, where there weren't any books, something caught my eye. Way in the back of the shelf, where I could barely see, was a package. It was a very slim, thin package in plastic. When I pulled it out, I could still not see what was inside. Naturally I got off the step stool. With the package in my hand, I sat down. And what I found was this very old book. I had never seen it before and knew nothing about it. It seemed very fragile and since it appeared to be over 100 years, it was delicate.
I live in my parents house. I thought I had cleared all the shelves and closets and knew what was in my house. But no, here was the treasure.
My father had very esoteric interests. He was an engineer, a photographer in his younger days with his own darkroom, a designer and an astrologer.
So, one of the remnants of his life was this book. I have no idea who he bought it from or if he received it as a gift.
Please enjoy the dedication of Leo Tolstoy and the beautiful photos of some of the drawings included in the book.










3 comments:

patrice said...

Wow! That Quon Yin (sp?) illustration with the dangling spider is wonderful. Is she offering redemption in the form of a spider?
What a treasure to find!
xo
P-

leilani said...

Just think. You were living with this treasure all this time and it waited until now to be discovered.

I love happenings like this--they make life so absolutely wonderful!

Unknown said...

What an amazing blog you have. Thank you!