The trees are strung, the lights are lit. We have wreaths on each outside door and a jumble of sleigh bells swinging from the door handle whenever someone enters the house. December.
Every year we host a neighborhood gathering. In Covid, we had everyone outside: we rented a large space heater to warm the garage, set up card tables for homemade donuts and cider warming in our battle-worn crock pot. It was later in December and there had been a good snowfall so the young and young at heart slid down Magic Road to the pasture below. As friends sat around the outdoor fire we were caroled by the squeals of the sliders. The holidays seem a good time to gather, before the snow and cold ushers us all into hibernation.
In our bedroom, the cedar blanket chest on the far wall is buried until a pile of wrapped and unwrapped gifts. I stockpile throughout the year operating by the philosophy that if you see the perfect thing, no matter what the time of year, buy it.
One of the benefits of this philosophy is that it allows me to really contemplate the person I am gifting. I find that if I wait too long, the hurried rhythm of the season makes me feel pushed into impulse purchasing. I don’t want the manifestation of my feelings to be the result of a quick button push.
Thinking about the definition of a gift; something that is given without the need for reciprocation. We are very blessed in that we have what we want and want what we have. Unless someone has a passion for a particular present, I find it more personal and frankly, more enjoyable for both giver and giftee, if I offer the gift of an experience. I enjoy conjuring up the person that I’m shopping for and sifting through the things I know they enjoy; Josh loves coffee: a gift card to either a new or favorite coffee house is always a winner. Michael loves to read but does that a lot for work so a subscription to the New Yorker delighted him. Jesse loves fine dining: a google search of places around where he lives that he’s never been to always digs up gold. Ethan loves good beer and the gift of an afternoon at a brewery lets him know that I remember that. For me, that is the true purpose of holiday giving; to show the people we love that we know who they are, what they like, and that it matters to us.
For me it is the gifts that are interactive, that unwrap over time, for the people who are the real gifts.