The Joys of Secret Santa...and Secret Santa Paws too

"Sophie Investigates the Secret Santa Paws Package"- Photo by K L Wood

Last Christmas, 2019, seems a whole lot longer than just one year ago. I think we need a new time measurement for 2020. You know, like one dog year equals seven human years—although that old adage has come into dispute, lately. I propose one 2020 year equals ten "normal" years. (And that, I believe, will remain indisputable.) 

Anyway, one year ago, our growing family decided it would be easier to handle, both time-wise and finance-wise, if the adults exchanged names for Christmas gift-giving for the following year. (The children would continue to receive gifts from everyone.) We picked names from an elf hat and kept them secret until Christmas 2020 gift-opening time. This led to a year of surreptitious glances and thinly

"Sophie Keeping an Eye on the Secret Santa Paws Gifts"- Photo by K L Wood

disguised inquires of clothing sizes, ears pricked to any mention of needed items, and grateful perusing of Amazon Wish Lists. It really has been great fun and a wonderful way to share (even if by video chat!) 

2020 was also our introduction to the doggy version of Secret Santa through our dogs' participation in the FaceBook group I wrote about in September, Nibblers-Patterdale Wanderers FC. Secret Santa Paws delivered gifts all over the world! 

"Some Nibbler Mates"—photos submitted by the Nibblers

"Some More Nibbler Mates"- Photos submitted by the Nibblers

The organizer kindly and wisely matched those on their respective continents to save on postage and delivery time. (Delivery time being an especially great challenge this past year!) Our dogs, five-year-old Sophie, and fourteen-year-old Minna, were the happy recipients of gingerbread squeaky toys and yummy doggy cookies! Thank you, Secret Santa Paws! (I've included more photos submitted by the Nibblers. Such a darling group of dogs and their human “beans.)

"Minna with her Secret Santa Paws Gift"—photo by K L Wood

From our home to yours, we wish you the simple joy of keeping sweet secrets and the pleasure of selfless giving (and the not-so-selfless receiving, too!)

Thanks for stopping by. Y'all come back, now. 

(And Warmest Wishes for a Merry Christmas season and a Very Hopeful New Year!)

Kate

We Gather Together...as we socially distance

2020 has been the year of irony. 

The very things that pull us together, push us apart, and vice versa. The entire world

has come together in the sharing of a single virus. A virus that, while it reminds us of our joint human frailty and similarity, has forced us behind smile-covering masks and into our socially-distant corners. And, for some, it has cast loved ones into a place from which they will never again return in this earthly life. 

The United States presidential election has brought the citizens of the country together, as never before, to exercise our freedom to vote. We came together in record numbers to cast our votes, either by mail or in person. And yet. And yet, that very election has pushed so many of us into opposite corners, across a political divide that has, for many, become intensely personal. 

And now, we come to the season for giving thanks. 

November 2019 was the first time in many years that both of my daughters, along with my sons-in-law and three grandchildren, could gather together with my husband and me for a Thanksgiving dinner. My older daughter’s husband has a military career, which has caused their family to often be too far away to join us for the Thanksgiving holiday. I was confident that we’d have a repeat of that festive gathering in 2020, while they were still stationed only an hour away from us. But then...the curse of Covid 19 struck, snatching away our plans, just as we learned that Thanksgiving 2021 will find them stationed several hundred miles away. 

And while I’m deep into my pity party, I might add how hard it is to refrain from embracing all of them for the past nine months, especially our 13-year-old and 16-year-old granddaughters, who will be moving so far away next year, and our 22-month-old grandson who, although he lives just an hour away, may as well be across the country as far as hugging distance is concerned. 

This year, we had a masked and socially distant exchange of Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts which we will enjoy

separately in our own three homes along with the turkey each will prepare for their families. We are all trying our best to protect one another from this dreadful illness. An illness that has had tragic consequences in so many families. 

And so, the first thing for which I give thanks this year, is that none of us has contracted it. None of us has fallen ill. We will remain socially distant because it’s one way we show love for one another. 

The second thing for which I give thanks, is the gift of technology. The Internet can be a dangerous and wasteful place to spend our time, but it can also be a lifesaver when we need to draw close to one another for social, creative, or business gatherings. With video chats, I can interact with my family and friends in ways unheard of a few years ago.

Because of the World Wide Web, I can connect with readers and other writers. And our beloved writers’ group has continued to meet twice a month via Zoom, proving it is possible to teach old dogs, new tricks, after all. (Speaking of dogs, this technological wonderment is responsible for bringing me a whole new trans-Atlantic world of friendship and inspiration through the “Nibblers” Facebook group of dog-lovers I wrote about a couple months back.)

So, I give grateful thanks for the love and health of my family, and for the fellowship of kindred spirits around the world. And, if the worse happens and Covid 19 strikes close to home, I give thanks that we have the technology to draw near to one another and provide the warmth and support we all need in a world that could, otherwise, be a cold and distant place. 

Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back, now. (And keep smiling behind that mask as we count our blessings, this Thanksgiving.) 

Kate