Every year I wonder why, just around the end of November, I am not prepared for the doldrums of December that seem to start up immediately upon getting catalogs and Gmail advertisements about what new gadgets and gewgaws I should buy as presents.
I’ve been around a long time.
I have everything I need, which is not the case for many right now, so I am filling boxes for our version of the Salvation Army here in France. I pray someone will love these things as I once did.
Old cookie tins, with lovely drawings or cute animals or photographs of exotic places on their covers. I used to search for those instead of a plain old cookie jar. I still keep one with photos of World War II Victory Day on the lid.
Just the other day, my honey presented me with a large golden tin that housed Aberfeldy scotch, one of my favorites for the quarter-inch shot I love around cocktail hour. Yes, we still have an evening drink and talk over the day and try not to let news disrupt our joy at living another wonderful 24 hours! I have everything I need, which is not the case for many right now, so I am filling boxes for our version of the Salvation Army here in France. I pray someone will love these things as I once did.
Back to my Salvation Army boxes. An old scanner I’ve tried to give to friends, but with no success, sits waiting for someone to plug it into a computer and send off photos or documents to someone. Wait a minute, scanners aren’t needed now, right? Okay, maybe use it for a non-plastic chopping board! Plastics are, along with alcohol, a no-no now, especially if heated, but the myriad old-but-still-useful Tupperware in my giveaway box are for the fridge anyway, not the microwave.
Sweaters that still have life in them except for one pulled little piece of wool that surely can be poked back to the inside, scarves that seem to be asking to grace a neck other than mine, several useful market and shopping bags that unfold from their tiny little pouches and don’t seem to like going back in easily, no doubt perfect for someone who probably does Rubik’s Cube in minutes.
In my goodwill (the sentiment, not the thrift store) box there is something for everyone, somewhere. I’m still tearing through things in my “present drawer” that never made it to that stage. I think there is still a clip-on reading light for a book, but it’s awfully dim. Anyway, many have turned to lit-up Kindles.
Just pondering these holiday gift giveaways and whether the plum puddings are aging properly and did I remember that cards have to be sent to those with no emails, and the wilting winter garden needs attention, and the year-end subscriptions need renewing. and, and, and.
As my ginger snaps go into my new cookie box, I am reminded of what came in it. That quarter-inch of scotch may not have to wait until 7. . . .
