Saturday, August 04, 2007

Crayons!

I have always loved crayons, still do, even though I haven't used them for years. When I was a kid we had a tradition of opening just one present on Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning. One year I happened to pick crayons and a coloring book for my evening present. Of course I woke up way too early on Christmas morning, probably around 5 a.m., so I decided I'd use the time to do some coloring in. I was sharing a room with my sister so couldn't turn on the light, and didn't want to get out of bed because the heating wasn't on yet - this was New York, and it was cold! So I colored in half under the blankets in pretty much dark conditions! I remember being amused to see my artwork in daylight - choice of colors and staying within the lines took a battering! Well into my early 20s, my mother would still include a fresh pack of crayons for me under the Christmas tree. She'd probably still do that if I didn't live on the other side of the Pacific.

Below is a nice crayon saying, most recently read in an email from Alice, and a few weeks ago in a post by Merle. Crayons have something important to say to us, as I've known all along.

  • We could learn a lot from crayons
  • Some are sharp, some are pretty,
  • Some are dull, some have weird names,
  • And all are different colors....but
  • They all exist very nicely in the same box.

12 comments:

Joan said...

I can still remember how excited my sister and I were when we finally were give our very first box of 64 crayons. The silver and gold crayons, which only came in the big box, were saved for really special drawings and we used the enclosed crayon sharpener with great enthusiasm!

Alice said...

Crayons, pencils, and paper of all sorts, just waiting to be written or drawn on - and the only restriction is the limit of your imagination. One of the many reasons I love Stationery shops.

No such delights when my mother was a child, so you can imagine how delighted she was when her father said, "I have a pencil that will write any colour you like." How disappointed was she when he wrote with a black pencil RED and BLUE, etc.

Merle said...

Hi Val ~~ Good game again, I thought for just a moment we would have a win. Two good games under Ratten -I
think he would be a good coach, do you? Thanks for the link about the
crayon thing. Had to laugh at you coloring in in the dark! Great memory
though isn't it? Glad you had a nice visit with Connie again. Take care,
Love, Merle. Come on Blue Boys!!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

How funny, Val !!
I have a lovely new pack of 12 Derwent pencils, just calling out to me to use them. I am considering going out and buying a wonderful colouring book, just so I can !!
Crayons are wonderful.
I love the words at the end ... very true.
Hope your weekend is going well.
Take care, Connie

Kali said...

Me too! just love crayons and pencils, textas etc.
Come to think about it I haven't used them in ages either, and I really should do something about that. I used to love my big old colouring books when I was a nipper.
Thanks for sharing that story from your childhood, I enjoyed imagining you under the blankets colouring away.

Jeanette said...

Hi Val, Your post bought back memories why crayons not allowed at my house.
About 10 years ago on a hot summer day my grandson dropped a box of Crayola crayons in the middle of my driveway and left them there, Oh what a mess of melted coloured grease and one off the littlies walked through it into the house.so they were banned, but I do have plenty of colouring books and large tin of colouring pencils.thanks for sharing your childhood colouring days..

Tammy said...

As a child one of my favorite things was opening a fresh box of Crayola's...I still love the smell...the nice thing about having my grandchildren come for a visit is they love for Nanny to color with them...I always buy them a fresh coloring book and crayons and we spread out in the floor and color...uh, oh...now I'm missin' them...time for a visit....
:)

Carole Burant said...

To me there was nothing more pleasing than having a brand new box of crayons and I would cherish them so. If one broke, my mom would find me crying thinking I had lost my best friend! lol Your post brought back so many wonderful memories. Now if only we could all learn to exist peacefully on earth as crayons do in their box!! xox

Kerri said...

I got that same e-mail from Alice and like you, was impressed with the clever lines about crayons (I probably read it on Merle's blog too).
I'm remembering my brother and I waking up at 5AM on Christmas mornings and having to wait...
colouring under the covers would've kept me busy too. I'm another crayon, pencil, paper lover. Like Alice, I love stationary shops.
I'll have to check out Google Reader and the shared items feature.
Those pretzels look delicious. It's been a long time since I've had one. Nice that you and Meow got together and showed off your pretzels :) Well I never!

Susie said...

I always loved crayons too. My grandson D just brought over a box of 150 crayons. The names of all the colors are amazing!!
He loves to sit and color..
xo

Merle said...

Hi again Val ~~ Thanks for your comments. Glad you liked my Heron. And most water birds do have long legs and do look elegant. I didn't want Voss to coach us, much prefer Ratten. Take care, Love, Merle.

Gina E. said...

Is it yet another one of those "girl" things - this love of crayons, papers and all things stationery? Scrapbooking supplies are even more delicious, even if you don't do it yourself! Like Connie, I always loved Derwent pencils. When I was at school they were very expensive, and not many kids had more than a set of 24. I remember one kid had the whole set of 72, and he guarded them ferociously!