So, Where Does The Writing Come From?

I don’t know, but it feels like I’ve always had a pen or pencil in my hand. I still have the thick blue pencil I learned to write with somewhere around here.

Do you remember the pads of paper with the lines? Big Chief was the brand, I think. The lines were there to help you write straight and reminded me of blank sheet music (language is music, yes?). Solid lines ran along the top and bottom of the space, with a dotted line running down the middle. Lower case letters could be no taller than that dotted line unless they had ascenders (I didn’t know that term in 1st grade) like an “b” or a “d.” No letter could go below the lower solid line except for the ones with tails (okay, descenders, but I prefer “tails”). Those tails were expected to drop all the way down to the dotted line in the next row. Those were always my favorite letters to make.