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| "A Snowy Buttercup Cottage Christmas, Jan. 4, 2017" photo by KLWood |
It's gift-giving (and receiving) season, once again. We have an old friend who often surprises us with his unique choice of gifts. Among, many: a toy, zebra-striped bedroom slippers, and a particularly memorable one, a roll of toilet paper.
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| "Yo-Kai Whisper" photo by KLWood |
The toy
was a strange, little, plastic creature. It looked a bit like a ghost
(as in one of Casper the Friendly Ghost's cohorts,) with one
white "arm" held up at its side. Turning questioning eyes
to the gift-giver, I cocked my quizzical head and raised my eyebrows.
"Go,
ahead," he said, grinning. "Pull his arm down."
Feeling like I was pulling down the handle of one of those "one-armed
bandit" gambling slot machines, I did as instructed. I was
rewarded with a silly, blubbery response and a voice telling me to
ask a question and shake him. A bit, dubiously, I asked if it was
going to rain and shook the creature. "It shall be, because
Whisper agrees." Ha! It was a kind of "Magic 8 Ball"
toy.
It had a number of settings, including "Words of Wisdom"
and would even suggest a lottery number for the day. Sitting idle for
a few moments, it spluttered out a "raspberry" at me. Turns
out, certainly unbeknownst by the gift-giver, it was a Japanese anime
character—one of the Yo-Kai, named "Whisper." Our
granddaughters knew exactly what/who it was and decided our friend
was cooler than they had formerly thought. It was perfect, the
next Halloween, when I dressed up as a mysterious witchy kind of woman
and carried it around as my "spirit guide," answering the
questions put to it by friends and, in the cafe, complete strangers,
who giggled again, like children. The joyful gift of silly laughter.
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| "Zebra Slippers" photo by KLWood |
One
Christmas, he gave my husband and me each a pair of slippers. Mine
were, for me, an uncharacteristically vibrant pair of black and white
zebra-striped ones. Not my usual earth-toned, blend-in-with-the-background L. L. Bean types. Hmmmm. But, let me tell you. Those
slippers kind of glow in the dark and, without any backs to them,
they are perfect for locating and slipping into at my bedside for
those cold, winter, middle-of-the-night-dark, foot-paddings to the
bathroom! Thank you, my friend, for the kindly gift of comfort.
That
brings us to the gift of toilet paper. Eyes twinkling, like Santa pulling a treasure from his toy
sack, he pulled a roll out of his bag, and presented it to me. "Here! I thought it might come in
handy with all your extra holiday visitors visiting the bathroom."
Once I lowered my eyebrows to a more typical position, I nodded and
thanked him, very much. And you know, he was right. That roll of
toilet paper absolutely came in handy. The thoughtful gift of
practicality.
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| "The Gift of Toilet Paper" photo by KLWood |
There's
one more thing about our friend's gift-giving. He doesn't limit it to
Christmas or other special occasions. He shows up at our door bearing
gifts for no particular reason other than to share and express his
gratitude for our friendship. The delightful gift of the unexpected.
So,
here's to you all, this gifting time of year. Maybe think outside the
box (unless it's a box of tissues, perhaps!) May you give and receive
gifts joyful, kindly, thoughtful, and unexpected.
Thanks for stopping by. Y'all come back, now!
And Merry Christmas!
Kate
