Happy Pencil Day

Expecto Patronum!

In my sunny Minnesota neighborhood today all things were clothed in spring. Cars cruised by with their windows open and sub-woofers thumping. Motorcycles brapped their tailpipes in the distance, accelerating up on-ramps like frisky colts stretching their legs. Joggers jogged and bicyclists biked. And I walked and walked, inhaling the season and discovering treasure: I live within spitting distance of a handful of schools, and where there are schools there are pencils.

Last night's thunderstorm and today's warmish temps caused the remaining winter snow to recede remarkably, and my eye spied a whole handful of pencils on my walk. Some were broken, some were just stubs... but I knew that inside them all were things just begging to come out. Things that I was curious to discover.

So home with me they went.

When I took off my jacket and quickly checked emails, I learned that today is Pencil Day. Who knew?? And Punchbowl, the folks who provide my Blog Widget, had this to say about it:

On this day in 1858, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the first-ever patent for a modern pencil with an eraser attached to it. Hymen Lipman created the wooden pencil and received high praise for how easy it was to use for writing and drawing.

Did you know that a single wooden pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a line that is 35 miles long? A pencil can also write under water, upside down, or in zero gravity. Manufacturers painted the first pencils yellow because the color was associated with royalty and honor. People quickly began assuming that yellow pencils were the best type!

To celebrate Pencil Day, set aside your laptop and use a pencil and paper to write today!

OK!

But I didn't write with my pencil. I drew instead.

And as I drew I thought of the character of Harry Potter. I thought of Harry's personal 'Patronus' -- his protective spirit guardian -- and how it manifested as a glowing, ghostly stag from the tip of his wand when he pointed it and said the magick words. And I wondered what sort of wizard would have a pencil as a magick wand and what manner of Patronus would come from it.

And then I thought to myself, "Anyone with a pencil for a magick wand would have a Patronus limited only by the boundaries of their imagination."

And then I thought, "...Cool."
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