Evocative Philately: Pencil Thin

Sheryll Ruecker came up with a brilliant topic idea for one of our recent Ebay Stamp Club "meetings" that occur online.  While the stamp club doesn't have too much participation, I think there is enough to make it worthwhile.  Her idea was that members should share evocative philatelic items for the December 2017 meeting. Apparently, this meant something to me as I put more than one post out in the discussion area. I felt that some of that writing could be expanded into something more, so I am moving at least one of those posts here so I can give it a try.
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The wooden pencil.

All I have to do is look at the cover on this page and I can hear the sound of the pencil sharpener at the elementary school when I was a student.  I remember that there were times we would line up to take a turn sharpening pencils and I remember working desperately hard to use up every tiny bit of each pencil...  How many people can remember sharpening a pencil for the last time where you could barely hold on to it to keep it from just spinning around in the sharpener?

And, what good is a wooden pencil without one of those nice big rubber erasers?  There wasn't a 'backspace' key to hit that made what you wrote go away when you made a mistake.  A few seconds of scrubbing on the paper and you'd have all of these pills of eraser stubble that you could sweep off the desk with one quick swipe of the hand.  But, oh, the frustration when you were overly aggressive with that eraser.  A hole in the paper or perhaps the whole thing wrinkled up - ugh!

There were some moments in the classroom where everyone was pretty mellow and calm.  Everyone was working on something and no one seemed inclined to make a ruckus.  I can remember putting my head down on the desk next to whatever I was working on.  I realize only kids can do this because it requires a certain amount of flexibility and a ridiculous ability to see things a couple of inches from your face.  But, the odd thing about it was that doing this had the effect of making you feel a bit like you had your own space, even though you were in a room with 24 other students and a teacher.

There is a certain feel and smell that goes along with wooden flip top desks, paper, pencils and erasers.  I am fortunate that my memories of these times are positive.  I realize some people struggled in school and others were in a school environment that didn't feel safe to them.  I, on the other hand, equate these sensory inputs with an opportunity to create in a secure environment.  There wasn't a huge rush to get it done.  Instead, there was permission to immerse myself in whatever project was before me.  Sometimes it was math, sometimes it was writing, sometimes it was art.  But, whatever it was, the process was made simple by pencil, paper and eraser.    

I still write and plan with lead pencils of the 'mechanical' variety.  Pencil sharpeners are no longer found at every corner of a library and I rely more often on my 'portable office' so I can work in any environment.  The traditional wooden pencil is no longer the best technology for me.  But, I still find myself feeling like I'm in the right place when I pick up a newly sharpened lead and cedar number 2 pencil and put the first figures on the page.