I Had A Legal Pad

It seems that references to my preferred portable writing medium have snuck into one or two posts regarding other subjects, but evidently I have never given proper attention to it. That's really too bad, for it does not reflect my attitude about it. As I indicate in the above title, it's the legal pad that I favor. This did not used to be the case, and the fact that I cling to it now sets me apart from those who use something a little more sophisticated, like a laptop. I do myself occasionally use a note-taking app on my phone, but it just doesn't cut the mustard for anything more than a few words when I fear forgetting something. No, for any real writing task away from home, only the legal pad will suffice, and I love it so. I like to say that anything you write in it becomes legal. It's our little joke, the pad and I.

How do I love thee, legal pad? Let me count the ways. Firstly, you're so big and encompassing. Even my expansive, crude handwriting is not too much for you to accommodate. There is enough space on every page for me to feel free and never cramped or claustrophobic. I can make a sketch of some decent scale (not that I ever do that), I can write poetry and prose in any formatting that I choose, and I can tear up a sheet into any custom configuration of smaller pieces that suits me. I know that you don't mind if I get so violent- you always endure my harsh treatment. I abuse you and sometimes lose you, but always come back in contrition distraught over the pain of separation. I've trooped through the heat and worried away nights when I couldn't have you by my side.

I love your color. I've seen other in plainer colors, but there's nothing more beautiful to me than canary yellow, and it looks so incredible on you. You stand out in a crowd, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It signifies the vibrancy that you imbue my scribblings with on every page, and it signifies the warmth and affection we feel for one another. Some would feel that the lines running across you mar your loveliness, but they are entirely endearing in my eyes. They're like the freckles on a woman that only serve to make her all the more desirable. Besides, they ease the difficulty I have in maintaining order with the lines of my writing. You make it so easy for me, legal pad.

I wish I were skilled enough to better do you justice, maybe with the kind of song that would surface in a Cole Porter show or a performance by Nat King Cole. That's because you embody class, grace and dignity. There will never be another for me, but that doesn't need to be said, does it? It doesn't need to be codified in some document- that would mean cheating on you in the first place. Anyway, why ruin what we have by spelling it out? You've never been troubled by spelling before (unlike the computer), so why start now? We know what we are to one another. You're my writing material, and I'm your man.