Listening by: Mikal Rex

I am a listener; not the kind of listener that people come and dump all their problems on and then walk away saying, “You are such a good listener.” I listen to books. I can eat up an audio book in a day, even if it is a 30 hour book, well then it would take me 30 yours to listen to, but you get what I mean. Back home my public library had a smorgasbord of delicious books 0on tape and CD just begging to be devoured, and I did partake. Walking to class, commuting to work, jogging, lifting weights, doing homework, each activity was done to the beautiful sounds of literature piped into my brain through my head phones. Bliss!

My love for audio books started out when I was a little boy. My mother frequented the local library in Port Angeles, WA. And it was my favorite thing to do, exploring that massive library; it was two floors of pleasure. I would pick out huge volumes on pirates and Robin Hood and knights in shining armor and make my mother read them too me. She tells of one book I got that was the size of a large bible in 9 point type. It was a textbook on pirates. I crawled up on the couch next to her and made her read this book. There is no way my five or six year old mind was able to comprehend this book, but I didn’t care, I was being read to.

Hours and hours, book upon book, Beverley Cleary, was out favorite. My mom loved reading and I loved listening. It was so much more fulfilling than television, and so much more connecting. There is warmth and comfort in having your mother’s voice telling stories of adventure, and while I listened my mind raced with imagination.

As I grew older my mother had more children and I switched to audio books. I would spend hours listening to books on tape while drawing pictures or when I was supposed to be doing homework. I can remember when my parents bought my brother and me a little CD/Tape player. It instantly became MY CD player and I would have it next to my bed and stay up till the early hours of the morning listening to books while my brother slept in the top bunk. My father would come downstairs to check on us and I would hurry and shut off the tape player then roll over and pretend to sleep. When his footsteps could be heard going back up the stairs I rolled right back over and kept listening.

Now I don’t have the time to listen to all the books I would like to, and it seems that the Rexburg library is trying to keep me from as many books as possible. True it wouldn’t kill me to actually pick up a book and read it, but when the heck would I finish it. The last book I finished was last winter semester. It was The Stand by Stephen King. It was an awesome book but it took far too long to finish. This semester however I have listened to five or six books and I plan to keep listening to more. I just find it sad that people will walk around with headphones in re-listening to the same songs over and over again, drowning their imaginations in pop drivel when instead there are worlds of literature waiting to be discovered. And in those long walks from the Spori to the Ricks wars are won, hearts are lost, murderers are caught, and adventure is found. I am still that little boy walking the halls of fiction discovering worlds without end.