Imagine that

Last year writer Lorrie Moore was at The New Yorker Festival. Her very eloquence was argument enough for her comments on "Why reading is vital." And there she described a lovely truth: reading is essential because "it is important to get close to another person's imagination."

This is so significant to me because she doesn't just explain that you can "get close to another person's imagination." But that it is important.

***

One weekday morning last month, unlocking my office door was a literal stretch as I leaned over a large cardboard box obstructing access. I managed, and soon the box was open on my desk and perfectly newspaper-wrapped packages were inside. What was before me? A week earlier my co-worker and friend had noticed some little ceramics decorating my office. And now, she was offering some new additions to my menagerie: like me, her father collected owls.

So many owls! Danforth and Hale were there. A little rhinestone-eyed owl was there. A tiny owly pillbox was there. And these:

These little owls provide ballast for some of my favorite stories and recollections. (Notice the second from the left is Lorrie Moore's Like Life.) I suppose the only commonality between Oona O'Neill's biographer, Boris Pasternak and Steve Martin is Lorrie Moore's wise observation: They all bring me closer to another's imagination. But that kind of closeness can surface elsewhere. For me, curios and treasures incite a kind of curiosity or admiration that inspires in the same way. Imagination is so remarkably manifested all around us, and we are reminded of its importance by books and baubles alike.