lead, the way

He's never sold a one.  Given them all away as gifts to friends.  Each taking a few months to a few years.

It's clearly a love of pencils.  A love of lead and wood, to say nothing of the obsessiveness;  the frame of mind he must go into to get this to come out of it. 

I love pencils.  I love their beauty, their simplicity, the way the lead shines on the paper.  The daily use of pencils are one of the things that have kept me in classrooms into adulthood.  I write entire missives in pencil.  I would sign checks in pencil! if it wasn't for all the implications...