Print newspaper warms a cold morning

There was no doubt about the sunrise this morning. The sun reflecting off an ocean of pure white snow made the brightest of days. The icy blanket crunched beneath my feet as I walked out to pick up the morning paper — and was disappointed.

Although the paper was in the driveway early Saturday morning as the snow and sleet were falling, it was missing this morning beneath the bright blue sky and the sparkling white base. I sat down with a cup of coffee, pulled up the N&O Web site on the computer and skimmed over the stories posted there. But it's just not the same. I wanted reading material, not looking material. After seeing no major breaking news, I picked up my coffee cup, retrieved the book I was reading from the bedside table and sank into a comfortable chair to read. After another cup of coffee and a minimalist breakfast, I checked the driveway again and saw what might be the newspaper lying there. It was.

I brought in the paper and sat down to read through each section and flip through the pile of advertising circulars. That exercise consumed what remained of the morning, a relaxing, soothing interlude with NPR's Weekend Edition and then an album of church music on the stereo. Getting out of the neighborhood to get to church seemed like too much of a risk with the temperature in the low 20s, so we opted to stay home and plead forgiveness.

Even though we had power and Internet connectivity, it was the old media — the hefty Sunday paper plopped in the driveway — that made my morning complete. Many a time over the years, I had walked to the nearest newspaper rack to buy a paper when a poorly motivated or skittish carrier failed to deliver. Having the news available online has not changed that motivation to walk a few blocks, if necessary, to hold a freshly printed newspaper in my hands, to spread it out across the breakfast table, to divide it up among family members and to slowly savor its every page with all the enthusiasm reserved for flavorful special weekend coffee. Print newspapers are the best.