The Pencil Sharpener

I suppose about anyone remembers the whirring grind of the pencil sharpener from their school days. You might even remember the "SNAP!" of a nice, sharp pencil point just before you went to use said sharpener! That always made me mad to break a nice, sharp pencil point.


I love using nice, sharp pencils. Writing, drawing, marking material - love 'em.


When I was growing up, we didn't have a pencil sharpener at home. Mom liked to work crossword puzzles in the paper. To sharpen a pencil, I still remember how we did that. We used ... a PARING KNIFE. Just laid the business end of the pencil on the counter, then whittled it (away from us of course) to "somewhat" of a point, though it certainly wasn't "pointy." But at least it wasn't down to the nub anymore. But it was pretty rounded on the end! Did you ever write on newspaper with a dull, rounded pencil? Just like mush!


So, at some point in later years, Dad got a REAL pencil sharpener and put it up in the kitchen by the pantry closet. It did a wonderful job of giving pencils a nice, sharp point. That certainly made me happy! I assume he might have gotten it at a local school auction. It wasn't unheard of for my folks to go to a local school auction and buy something.


http://acowgirlsheart.blogspot.com/2009/12/from-auction-to-brass-class.html


So in the midst of the upheaval after both Mom and Dad had passed away, we eventually sold the house. That situation was really too much for me to deal with on my own, and I ended up having to leave a lot of stuff in the house. (Grrrrr.) But after we moved out and until we sold it, I kept moving stuff to our current house. THAT PENCIL SHARPENER was one thing I wanted to be sure and have. Don't ask why, I just did. So there you see it in its new home, at the bottom of our stairs. It still does a great job of keeping me in sharpened pencils. :)