pencil for your thoughts

I woke up thinking about pencils. Or, a pencil. Pencils bug me. I do have a few. For emergencies. It's in my mcgyver pink fanny pack. Never know when a fan wants my autograph.

We all start out with pencils in school. That's sensible. You're learning to write. You can erase mistakes. Nothing better than the brand new pencils on first day of school. And they're traditionally yellow. Ticonderoga? The school bus is yellow. Coincidence? Which came first, the yellow pencil or yellow bus?Yellow means slow down in traffic lights. Of course ducks are yellow, too, but lets not muddy the waters. And rain boots! And slickers! Stop! This is about pencils.

I don't use pencils now, but remember them. The point wears down quickly. So you turn the pencil. The result is uneven on paper. Sharp, thin letters coalesce to flat, wide letters. How long do you keep twirling pencil? Do you go down to the nub? Or maybe you take a leisurely stroll to the pencil sharpener. You can see the whole history of your pencil usage on your paper.

#2 pencil is regular. #3 is hard and light color. #1 dark but soft. Point wears down quickly. The mechanical pencils might be better. They're thin and keep their point.

I've chewed on pencils. For fun? Just to see what it's like. Wonder if you can get lead poisoning from it. Maybe OCD? I've stuck it behind my ear.

I have stowed a pencil in my car. In case I need a writing implement and a pen goes dead.