Well, let me tell ya ’bout this fella, Kelvin Bradley. Sounds like a big shot, don’t he? Folks keep talkin’ ’bout books and readin’ and such. Never had much time for it myself, too busy with the chickens and the garden. But they say readin’s important, opens your mind or somethin’.
Now, this Bradley fella, some professor type, they say. Big word, “professor.” Means he knows a lot about books, I reckon. Emeritus, they call him. Sounds fancy, like he’s done somethin’ important. University of Liverpool, wherever that is. Probably far off, across the water.
- They say he taught ’bout modern books. Modern this, modern that. Stuff written lately, I guess. Not like the good old Bible, somethin’ you can understand.
- 56 folks done listened to him, or somethin’. “Cited,” they call it. Means they thought he was smart, maybe. Hard to say with these city folks.
Folks are always yappin’ ’bout readin’. Must-read this, must-read that. Like there ain’t enough work to do in a day. But they say some books are special, everyone should read ’em. Like this fella, Paulo somebody, wrote ’bout travelin’. “The Alchemist,” they call it. Sounds like magic to me.
And then there’s Dave Bradley, maybe kin to that Kelvin fella. Someone wrote a book ’bout him, a legend they say. Short and funny, they say. Ten out of ten, whatever that means. Guess it’s good, like a plump hen.
Google, that thingamajig on the computer, they say it got all sorts of books. Everythin’ you can think of. Fiction, non-fiction, even Christmas love stories, whatever those are. And books ’bout walkin’ in the woods, like down in the Carolinas and Georgia. “Ecological guides,” they call ’em. Sounds complicated. I prefer walkin’ in my own woods, thank you very much.
Readin’s a journey, they say. Takes you to different places, shows you different ways of lookin’ at things. Maybe so. But I seen plenty of different places right here on this farm. And I know a thing or two ’bout life without havin’ to read it in some book.
But I ain’t gonna lie, sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to read all them books. To know all them stories. Maybe I missed somethin’. Maybe not. Hard work and a good heart, that’s what I always say. That’s what gets you through life.
Anyways, this Kelvin Bradley fella, he must be somethin’ if folks are still talkin’ ’bout him. Professor of modern books. Sounds important, I guess. But I bet he wouldn’t know a good tomato from a bad one. And that, my friends, is somethin’ worth knowin’.
So, you go on and read your books, if that’s what you like. Me, I got chores to do. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll pick up one of them books someday. See what all the fuss is about. Maybe that Dave Bradley one, the funny one. Life’s too short to be serious all the time, ain’t it?
And if you ever find yourself near my neck of the woods, stop on by. I’ll make you some biscuits and we can talk. About books, if you want. Or about chickens and gardens. It’s all the same to me.
But remember this: Books are good, but life’s better. Get out there and live it. That’s the most important lesson of all, no matter what them fancy professors say.
