A Photo a Day - Day 9

Mag·a·zine - a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest.

I miss the magazine. I miss the race to the mailbox to see if the latest issue of Sports Illustrated or Entertainment Weekly had arrived. I miss those postcards that magically fell out as you leafed through the pages. I miss the editorial on the last page.

I still recall the day when I received the latest issue of Rolling Stone at our newly purchased home back in 1997. I haven't forgotten the thrill of seeing my name and our new address on that small white sticker on the bottom left section of the front cover. I think adulthood arrived that day.

I'm an avid gardener. The obsession kicked into gear back in 1999 and hasn't let up. I've read every issue of Fine Gardening magazine, cover to cover, since 2002. I stole their plant plans and sold them off as my own. I ripped out pages and brought them to the nursery.

As magazines fell out of favor, I too succumbed to reading the online versions of my favorites on my laptop and phone. By 2015 or so, I canceled all of my magazine subscriptions with the exception of one: Fine Gardening. I couldn't let it go. I needed to read it in print, in its original form. I couldn't forego the thrill of disappearing in the bathroom for like an hour, planning my next section of garden. Red marks on the tops of my knees be damned.

I'll be diving back into these on January 2nd. For the twenty-first year in a row, I'll plan big and under deliver. But what better way to get through the hell that are winters here in the Northeast. You go ski and snowboard. I'll drink copious amounts of coffee and dream of my revamped butterfly garden.

PS: Did you notice the magazines are not in perfect order? No excuse for someone as OCD as me.

Sorry.