re: Book, on the other hand traces back to the word for beech tree.... preferred wood for carving runes into-- yes, i made a post last month quoting someone who pointed out the old plural of book was beech.

but its not just the wood, and any one who has ever seen a beech tree would know why. (i live on BEECH knoll -- a well named street)

Beeches have smooth grey bark, and are the favorite tree for carving ones initial into.. In fact, a guide to trees of the North east that own(ed) gave initals and other graffiti carved into the bark as the most identifiable feature of a beech tree!

one could cut messages into the bark of a beech tree and have a public library of information that would last a hundred or more years!

its not just my block that has beech trees, i have close at hand, in the nieghborhood, copper beeches (just like the A conan Doyle story of the same title) and weeping beeches.



my other obsession