The Airplane Book

I was helping my mother-in-law sort books in the library in her house. Each book that Dad had read had his initials in the front. While it was interesting to see Dad’s comments written in the books, I had no use for radio and tv repair books. There were two sets of encyclopedias in the library that dated back at least 50 years. Each set had about 20 hard-back books. “There’s good information in there,” Mom said. “Your grandchildren could use them when they have to write a report.”

While I knew that the availability of the Internet would provide more up-to-date information for reports, I didn’t want to hurt Mom’s feelings.  I said, “Let me take them home with me. I’ll check with my children to see if anyone wants them. If no one does, I’ll donate them.” Checking with my children was a formality. No one wanted them. I checked with the thrift store. They weren’t accepting encyclopedias. I ended up donating them to the garbage can.

I found a huge book about airplanes lying flat on one of the shelves in Mom’s library. It was too tall to shelve in an upright position. Not only was it larger than the average book, but it was also thick.  I asked Mom if I could have that book. She was delighted to give it to me, pleased that I was interested in airplanes. 

But I wasn’t interested in reading that book. Sometimes my watercolor paintings buckled because I had used the wrong kind of paper or too much water.  I had a solution for that problem.  First, I placed the picture face down on a hard surface.  Then I used a paintbrush to coat the back of the picture with water. After placing paper towels on top of the painting, I placed a book on top and weighted it down with my five-pound dumbbells. The next day the painting would be flat.

This was the reason I wanted the airplane book. It was a good size to weight down a large buckled painting. I still have and use that book.

Mom was happy that I wanted the book about airplanes. I never told her why I wanted it.