In my makeup drawer
and on my desk---Pencils!
Let’s all celebrate
the creation of the pencil!
I use them every day.
To help my face, I have one to line eyes, another to color brows, and
one to contour lips.
You
wouldn’t want to see me in the morning before I use these pencils.
I have the popular number two pencil at my desk to jot
notes. Sometimes I write grocery lists,
and other moments I make notes about a novel in progress. A pencil sharpener
sits nearby to keep pencils ready to write.
This wonderful device was created over 150 years ago, and
with it, came the tool for the common man to communicate.
It’s Hymn Lipman’s brainchild. He gave us the first pencil
with an eraser on March 30, 1858, and wow! Was that ever a handy-dandy invention? You betcha it was. Back in school days, where
would I have been without that little gadget at the end? My teachers would have used a lot more of her
red pencil if I hadn’t had an eraser option.
We call them lead pencils but in truth they are graphite, a
form of carbon. By the time humans
learned our pencils were made with carbon, it was too late. The name “Lead Pencil” remained wedged in our
minds.
We take pencils for granted, but how are they
made?
When a tree destined to become a pencil reaches the minimum
age of fourteen years, it is eligible to be felled and cut into logs for
writing devices. None of the tree is
wasted. Left over lumber, leaves and roots are left to fertilize the earth.
Logs are cut into small slats, and these are treated to
become dry and soft. Without this
procedure, pencils couldn’t be sharpened.
Within the slat, a groove is carved to fit the carbon, or
lead. The coloring, carbon, and glue go
into the slat. Then another slat is placed on top to make a sandwich. After going through a heat process, the two
slats meld into one.
The product is then cut to the desired length and packaged
to sell.
Let’s give a round of applause for
the everyday
pencil! It’s a good thing to celebrate.
Where would these books be without a
pencil?
Gay N. Lewis
Sarah: A Mission of Love
Sarah: Laney's Angel
Sarah and the Widow's
MateSarah: A Mission of Love
Sarah: Laney's Angel
www.GayNLewis.com
http://www.gaynlewis.blogspot.com
https://www.amazon.com/author/gaynlewis
http:www.prismbookgroup.com