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| Photographs copyright TONY PUTMAN |
Unfortunately, I no longer read books as often as I used to when I was younger. When I try to read a book nowadays, I find my mind wandering off a few sentences into a paragraph, requiring me to go back and read it again in order to grasp what the writer is saying. I suspect it's the 'brain fog' that assails me from time-to-time, when my mind essentially starts to close down and it's almost like I'm in a trance. (Happens when I'm speaking as well sometimes.)
Same with some blogs. There's an excellent site in my blog list, where the writer does exhaustive research and presents highly detailed, fact-filled posts about Marvel in the Silver Age. Trouble for me is that there's just so much information in each post that I find it difficult to assimilate all of it, and by the time I reach the end, I've forgotten everything but the last couple of paragraphs. They're quite lengthy posts too, so re-reading them doesn't really help much. Haven't commented for quite a while because I was beginning to sound like a broken record, my remarks consisting of not much more than "Well done on another fascinating post."
However, that's by-the-by. I saw mention in a newspaper last week of a book titled Bob The Robin, which tells the heartwarming tale of a gardener named Tony Putman and his friendship with various Robins, in particular the Bob of the title. I forgot about it almost immediately, but when I was leaving a bookshop a few days later after popping in to check out the graphic novels and comics collected editions, I happened to see the Bob The Robin book on a table as I passed and promptly stole it. (Nah, just checking to see if you're paying attention.)
It had £2 off so I bought it immediately - what Scotsman can resist a saving like that? (Though it would probably have snared me at 2p off.) Anyway, it's not an overly long book, it has fairly large type, but is very well written with some great photographs. More importantly, I could read it in short bursts when I felt like it, so my mental energy wasn't compromised and I didn't find myself falling asleep a few paragraphs into each chapter.
The point of this post? It's an emotionally rewarding book that will enrich your heart and make you appreciate nature a little more than you perhaps already do (however much that is), so I have no hesitation in recommending it to you for your own bookshelves, Crivvies. Only £16.99 and worth every penny. Buy it today, either for yourself or someone you love. (I bought mine for the someone I love most in all the world - me!)
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Incidentally, a few months back, a fearless little Robin would alight on a branch inches from me when I was out in the back garden filling the bird feeders. It once alighted on my hand for a second to snatch some bird seed and I have to say I felt enormously privileged, almost as though I'd won a Blue Peter Badge. Sadly, I haven't seen him or her in a while (though have seen other Robins) and find myself hoping wee Robin is okay. Below is Tony Putman's YouTube channel about Bob.
6 comments:
I've stopped reading books too because reading has become a chore rather than a pleasure.
It's not that I want to stop reading books, CJ, it's just that I now find it hard - the same with TV shows and DVDs. My mind just goes walkabout a lot of the time. However, if YOU read simply to read, maybe that's why it's become a chore. Try waiting until a book appears that you feel you really WANT to read.
When I was around 8 and 9 years of age, my dad was befriended by blackbird who use to sit on his shoulder as he dug the garden and would swoop down for worms. The bird came back day after day for 2 seasons an woykd sit on the febce until dad came out.
Great stuff. You wonder what goes through their minds when they bond with humans, eh? You'd love this book, McS, though it'll be cheaper to wait for the paperback (or get it from the library). Oh, I forgot - you're rich, so run out and buy a copy.
Thanks for this recommendation, I will buy it for my wife for her birthday or Christmas. She works in a garden centre and regularly feeds robins who nest in the greenhouses. They take food from her hand, they are so brave and bold and also intelligent. My favourite bird is the blackbird though. Not Naomi Campbell but the feathered variety. Is there anything more beautiful than the song of the blackbird apart from perhaps Lynda Carter?
Don't know, M, 'cos I can't remember whether I've ever heard the song of the Blackbird or not. However, Lynda Carter is definitely beautiful - and then some. Why doesn't she call?
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