Thanks, Dr. Seuss!

How's everyone doing today?

Good, good.

Me? Oh, I'm fine. First day of March--Read Across America Day. Good day. I celebrated with a little Dr. Seuss. Another look at Tweetle Beetles, which I believe we discussed around this time last year. Ah, I was talking about international poetry day that time.

And I cannot agree with John Lithgow more. The man is a genius. Thanks, Dr. Seuss! What you provided for the youth of yesteryear will resonate for decades to come.

My cohort Becky and I were discussing some favorite Seussian moments over the cubical wall after my Tweetle Beetle reading. Lines we still remember and can quote.

Sure we know Sam I Am and his oddly colored culinary offerings or the Lorax and his ability to converse for the otherwise silent fauna, but our recollections turned to other works such as the lessons we learned from the Sneetches on the beaches. And how to be brave, or at least, how to try:

"I said, 'I do not fear those pants.
With nobody inside them.'
I said, and said, and said those words.
I said them. But I lied them."

I'm glad to say that Dr. Seuss has not been lost in a gap of generations. I have some very young in-laws, and a couple years ago, I won over a wary 4 year old with a reading from The Cat in the Hat.

I had pulled out the book--which is prominently displayed with a dozen other Dr. Seuss books in my in-laws' living room--for my own entertainment. The book was fairly beaten up from decades of repeated use (which in book terms means love); no doubt it belonged to my wife way back when. No sooner did I have book in hand then I had child in lap--a child who was often shy/reserved/frightened around me. I hadn't expected a companion in my return to a childhood memory, but undaunted our hero (me) plunged onward.

I'm not used to reading aloud, and particularly not to children. Dr Seuss, however, dances off the tongue (well, except Fox in Socks and Oh Say Can You Say, which don't so much as dance as wrestle). I read that book, even discussed some of the themes and reflected up the plot, and followed with the Cat's return before we were called to dinner. I've been in Lily's good graces ever since.

But Dr. Seuss is more than childhood memories; his works have marked several milestones in my life. Like many of my friends and acquaintances, I have an unbattered copy of Oh the Places You'll Go with words of encouragement, pride, and love written on the inside cover from my parents. It was given to me upon my graduation from highschool. An appropriate token and wonderful sentiment.

Dr. Seuss had long been a part of my life. His works helped me to read and helped me to love reading. Truly a noble gift to give any person, and the Dr. gave it to so many. He will always have my thanks and admiration.

Wes