Don’t be hatin’ Walmart…for this.

Seems like people either love or hate Walmart. Whichever your side, this post isn’t trying to change your mind except on one point. I’m going to talk about something that’s annoyed me for a long time, the claim that nothing in Walmart is made in America; it’s all from China.

 

It’s true. Much of what is at Walmart comes from China. That’s not what annoys me.

Let me ask you this. Have you checked the tags or “Made in ______” labels other stores? If so, you know they do not say “Made in America” and almost all of them do say “Made in China”, whether appliances, utensils, clothing, knick knacks, or anything else.

When my husband moved to Naperville and needed kitchen items, I went to Target and decided to buy things made in America. I looked at virtually every single kitchen utensil and item in the store that he needed (as well as some he didn’t need) and about two were sporting “Made in America” labels. That’s two individual items, not two brands. Kitchen Aid; surely that’s made in America. No. Oxo? No. All the other brands. No.

Look at clothing labels. Very few of them say “Made in America”. If they don’t say “Made in China”, they’re likely made in another Asian country or sometimes in a central American one. Once in awhile, I find something at the thrift store that’s made in America. I like that. The Suave lotion in my kitchen says “Made in the USA” on the back. Take a look at things around your house or apartment? What do you see that’s made here or at least not in China? I’d love to know.

If you’re interested in what appliances are made in America, here’s a place you can look:

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/appliances.html

Clothing made in America:

http://americansworking.com/clothing.html

A report on the costs of domestically made furniture and appliances:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/made-america-domestically-made-furniture-appliances-cost-imported/story?id=13049571#.T02WAvVqSSo

“These websites are devoted to American companies or to sourcing where the everyday products you use are from. Use the links below and our interactive map to find companies near you”:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MadeInAmerica/made-america-resource-guide-find-american-companies/story?id=13057404#.T02WTfVqSSo

I read a fascinating book about trying NOT to buy things made in China, “A Year Without ‘Made in China’”, by Sara Bongiorni. Shoes and toys were difficult as were flip flops. Even buying gifts for children’s birthday parties was difficult. Read the book; you’ll enjoy it as well as sharing in her frustration. In the end, finding a thoughtful, middle ground was, as in so many other areas of life, the solution for the Bongiornis.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/28/us-books-madeinchina-idUSN2425061320070628

Whatever your beef with Walmart, one I don’t believe is legitimate is that they only sell things “Made in China.” If that’s something you want to avoid, you’ll be much better richer, because you won’t be doing much shopping, at Walmart or anywhere else.

The washing machine wars or “Fix Bayonets”

Sometimes life just gives you lemons, although they may take time to grow. Do you make a horrible face or do you make lemonade?

The other morning, I had another close encounter of the annoying kind with my washing machine . Or it could be of the kind that helps you develop patience, or buy a new washer. Whatever. Most washing machines just…well, wash clothes. But this machine has developed its own, curmudgeonly personality, one that sometimes tests the bonds of our relationship.

Some years ago our very ancient, machine needed to be replaced. We have a local appliance store we like to patronize whenever possible, so we headed over there to do our bit to support independent stores. Every year they have a sale, with opportunities to win appliances, although we’ve never won anything. We talked with the sales person and he recommended a machine that he said lots of the people there owned. We’ve had good luck there, so we went with his recommendation, based on the other available options and prices.

We came away with our first front loader, a Maytag, evoking visions of that lonely repairman sitting dolefully somewhere, wishing that our machine would break down so that he’d have something to do. Nice thought! I hoped to keep him eating doughnuts and talking on his cell phone forever.

I really never thought I’d be very excited about a washing machine, but a front loader is something special. I was able to machine wash clothes that formerly I had to wash by hand, even things that might have required dry cleaning before this machine. Since one of our daughter, who will remain nameless, has quite a collection of special care garments, it was great. One of the things the salesperson touted was that by the time the load was done, your previous load would be dry. Of course, he forgot to mention the reason was that the cycle takes about 45+ minutes. But that was fine.

One problem did emerge early on. If the door was shut once the laundry was out, there was too much moisture and it became obvious that mold would be the next step. (We found out later this was a problem with this particular type of washer.) Pulling out all my intellectual stops, I decided to dry out the machine once I was done doing laundry and just leave the door open a bit. That worked well. In the war of the washer vs. me, I was doing well.

But sometime in the not-too-distant past, something went awry in the computer brain of this lovely machine. It got washing machine Alzheimer’s. First, it forgot how to turn on correctly. I’d put in the information, push start and the machine would tell me there’d been an electrical interruption. I bought it at first, because we do have electrical issues sometimes in our city. The next step was to have this happen multiple times.

I don’t really remember what happened next but now, I never know what machine I’ll meet. It’s the “Three Faces of Eve” washer. I might close the door and nothing on the panel comes on. Open and close, open and close; at some point it will start working, although I may have the “electrical” issues for some time. It might take one minute to start, it might take ten. And sometimes, it works perfectly. The permutations of what happens are, while not endless, certainly varied and certainly very frustrating, especially if time’s an issue.

I finally broke down and had a service person stop by. I was told on the phone that it might be something relatively inexpensive to fix or a computer issue and something quite expensive. Guess which one it was? No point in paying half the price (or more) of a new machine. I also found out from the repairman that this particular model did a great deal to put Maytag out of business, although they’ve since been bought by Whirlpool and he said their machines are once again worth buying. Nice to know, but not much help for this machine, which had turned out to be a bit of a lemon.

I’m treating my machine the way you might a relative who wasn’t quite as sharp as he used to be; I’m loving it and working with it. Not really sure I want to spend the money for a new machine. We’ll see what happens. But for now, I’m fixing my bayonets and making lemonade. And getting the laundry done…eventually.

A few recipes

I’m not an innovative cook, I just find good recipes. But occasionally I come up with something that tastes good and is easy. Here’s my latest tiny contribution to the world of food and to making your life just a little bit easier. Enjoy!

Janet’s Easy Lunch Bowl

Chickpeas
Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Avocado, diced

Put chickpeas in the bottom of a bowl. Put the artichokes pieces on top of the chickpeas. Top with avocado pieces. I told you it was easy. But it tastes good and is fast and nutritious as well.

You may use plain artichoke hearts, marinated artichoke hearts (in which case, you can use some of the marinade as a dressing) or some of the artichoke tapenade from Trader Joe’s. It’s not really called tapenade, but I don’t remember offhand what it is called. It’s basically chopped up, marinated artichokes, from the taste of it and a very tasty taste it is, too. Anyway, any of these work well. If you use plain artichoke hearts, you might like some sort of marinade. Or you might not.

When I made our bowls today, I added some chopped scallions/green onions. Yum! This works well on top of salad greens, too. Feel free to innovate from here.

Here’s another delicious appetizer, dessert or tapa recipe, based on a tapa we had once at an excellent (and excellently priced) tapas restaurant in Naperville, Illinois, Macarena Tapas, http://www.macarenatapasnaperville.com/.
**************************************

My Best Date Ever
Ingredients:

Dates, chèvre, bacon or prosciutto, honey

1. Remove the pits from the dates.
2. Stuff each date with chèvre.
3. Wrap with bacon or prosciutto
4. Broil (turning if necessary) until bacon is cooked or prosciutto is crisp.
5. Plate and drizzle with honey.

Perfect as an appetizer, dessert or tapa.
**************************************

Finally, cucumber slices topped with olive tapenade are excellent. To gussy them up a bit, top with a toasted walnut piece.

Annabelle at home

If you’ve been here with me for awhile, you know about Annabelle, formerly known as Crazy Momma, rescued in Biloxi from a dog fighting ring. She’s been at our house since arriving in Cleveland, while waiting for a foster home or, even better, a forever home. When she arrived, she was skinny and hadn’t experience much love in her life. It also turned out she was Houdini disguised as a pit bull! Soon after arriving, she managed to squeeze out of her crate while our younger daughter was gone. She didn’t open the door; she managed to somehow get out between the wire and the bottom of the crate. It’s a bit like the way mice can get in anywhere but on a much larger scale!! Thankfully, she didn’t wreck the room, but you can imagine that it’s a bit stressful to leave the house, not knowing exactly what will happen while you’re gone. We found out Houdini had escaped from her crate regularly where she stayed after being rescued, so that behavior had already been rewarded. We needed to stop the reward of getting out and in addition, Annabelle was also scraping herself up in the process, something we didn’t want repeated.

With the help of a friend, our daughter used colorful zip ties to reinforce the crate. Still, Houdini managed to get out again. The next round of zip ties was more thorough but by this time, Shana, who runs the rescue (For the Love of Pits, http://www.fortheloveofpits.org/) had purchased the prison cell crate, The Zinger, http://www.zingerwinger.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16409. (If you click on the link to connect to “For the Love of Pits”, you can see pictures of the dogs needing forever homes, learn more about the group, or even donate if you’d like to help.)

I guess just the fact that the crate on its way must have sent vibes to Annabelle, because the next time our daughter left, Houdini stayed in her crate. Our daughter had also been working with her to learn to stay in the crate for longer periods of time and that, combined with maybe realizing that “her” person would come back, made the difference, and taking a lot of pressure off our daughter! And our daughter’s definitely Annabelle’s person….when our daughter left to go shooting after lunch, Annabelle stayed by the door, barked a little, whined, ran around the house looking for her and took some time to settle to having just me around. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, she’ll get used to me again and I can become her second person.

Annabelle loves to curl up in her bed but she also likes to lie in our laps, either partially or completely if she can manage it. She has more energy, possibly due in part to getting her heartworm treated. If our daughter leaves the room, she still eventually goes off to look for her, but she’s much calmer. When we sit down to eat, she’ll get as close as possible, but she won’t jump up to try to get our food. She will keep inching closer and closer, though, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll give the soulful look a shot. When she sleeps, she often snores slightly and just a few minutes ago, she made little yipping noises and her legs twitched in some sort of doggie dream. Sometimes she stands with her head down, unmoving, for a long time, as if contemplating a profound thought or staring at something. Who knows what does on in a dog’s mind?

Annabelle knows “sit” and is learning “shake” and “stay”. She walks well on leash but still needs work on plenty of things. She’s got the main attribute of a good dog, though, a sweet temper, despite whatever she went through in Biloxi. Hopefully by the time she gets her foster home, she’ll know much more. But at least now she knows love.

Weird & wacky stuff

I’m always seeing things that make me laugh or hearing things that don’t come out correctly or just stuff that’s weird and not as I’d expect it to be. Don’t give me any scientific explanations for any of it, either. It ruins the fun.

In no particular order….

When I’m at a restaurant and a waiter/waitress/waitperson/server comes up, they’ll often say, “If you need me, my name is (fill in the blank).” OK, what’s your name if I don’t need you? Sorry, but it’s a struggle for me every time someone says this not take ask them that follow-up question. I don’t, but I’d really, really like to.

Why do pancake recipes tell you to only turn the pancakes once? What horrible thing could possibly happen if you turned them a third time? What about 4 or 5 times? I’ll be brutally honest (and you don’t even have to bring out the comfy chair)….I have turned pancakes more than one and occasionally maybe even four times. Does that make me a bad person? What did it do to the person who ate the pancake so terribly abused? Please don’t tell anyone.

Why is it that leftover pancake batter, like diamonds, is forever? I can fill the empty bowl with water and let it sit all day. When I pour the water out, the leftover mix is still at the bottom, seemingly just as it was hours earlier. Even if I carefully wipe everything, then wash thoroughly, there always seems to be some pasted-on, dried-up batter somewhere, hanging on, like a barnacle on the bottom of boat, for dear life. I guess that’s why you can make paste with flour. Makes me wonder what my insides look like? Guess all those enzymes and things in there are pretty tough!!

Why should anyone selling coffee or any coffee-related beverage, tea or hot (remember the “hot” part) chocolate (excluding all designer drinks that have any of these in them but are made cold), have to put cautions on the cups or elsewhere warning people that the beverage is hot? (Do NOT give me the legal reasons. Just don’t.) You wanted a hot beverage; you paid for a hot beverage; you’re annoyed if your hot beverage isn’t hot. Why wouldn’t you expect it to be hot and behave accordingly? Now if you ordered iced tea and it was hot, you’d have something about which to complain.

Our mailman isn’t male. I guess that makes her a mailwoman, but not a male woman. Mailperson not male person. And no one, male or female, wants to be a garbageperson.

Have you ever thought about how many brain cells are occupied with words from songs from your past? I can hear something from the 60’s or 70’s and often chime right in without realizing I even know so many of the words! Some of the songs were shorter but still. For instance, I know all the words to “Secret Agent Man”, “Red Rubber Ball” and “Happy Together”, but I also know “Bye, bye Miss American Pie” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, plus lots and lots of things…including much of “Smoke on the Water”. Anyone for a rousing round of “Inagaddadavida”? Would I be a brain surgeon (maybe on my own brain) or a rocket scientists if I had all those cells otherwise occupied? But if the latter, then I couldn’t say “It isn’t rocket science”, because it would be.

Having done and proofed bulletins and newsletters as well as having been part of a committee to re-work the constitution of our church, I’ve always wondered at the plethora of extraneous capital letters that abound in church missives. “We will meet in the Narthex of the Church. The Pastor will lead the Congregation in singing from the Song Book. Please remember that Dogs are not allowed in Church any day of the Week, unless they are Service Dogs.” (Sorry about the pun.)

Did you ever think about the fact that a fiend is only one letter removed from a friend? Literally one letter removed. Makes you think.

Just Ducky

Made the six-plus hour drive from Chicago to Cleveland yet again, going from snow to high winds, listening to a Tony Hillerman book on CD. After two weeks, one of the main things that greets me (right after our younger daughter and Annabelle) is the pile of mail. Now we’re catching up on the TV shows we like to watch, one of which is “NCIS”.

My original intrigue with this show was not Mark Harmon, but David McCallum, the actor formerly known as Illya Kuryakin on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Illya started out as a minor character, but was such a hit with the female viewers that he became an equal partner. Now, older but still with panache, he talks to dead people as he autopsies them and waxes philosophical with other member of the team. He still looks good doing it, too, especially when you consider that the Scottish-born actor will be 79 this year!! He, like fellow Scot,(not Scotch), Sean Connery, almost looks better every year (or maybe it’s just that I’m getting older, too….but no, that couldn’t be it.) Scotch (not Scot) is a bit like that, too.

This episode is about people who dress and act as superheros, something I find a little weird. But whatever the theme of the show, I enjoy the interplay and affection between the characters and although it seems each week we seem more of the cut-up dead bodies than the last, there’s very little graphic violence or weird serial-killer kind of pushing the yucky envelope. I like that in a TV show. Now we’re just waiting to see how long it takes until Tony and Ziva get together and hoping the show continues to age well.

What I learned from “What Not to Wear”

I’ve learned I love “What Not to Wear”. Who’d have thought? Besides having to periodically scrape my jaw off the floor when I see what some people do wear, I’ve learned the following:

• Stacy and I will never agree completely on what constitutes a comfortable shoe. Cute, maybe;
comfortable, no.

• My wardrobe isn’t all that bad.

• There are some things Clinton and Stacy ought not to wear.

• Try on things you think might not look good or that you wouldn’t ordinarily wear. Sometimes you’ll
find something that looks great.

• Your family and friends DO notice what you wear…and they love you anyway.

• $5,000 goes farther when shopping in NYC than I’d ever imagined.

• Once you’ve used up the credit card, money goes even farther at the thrift store!! OK, I didn’t learn
that from “What Not to Wear”, yet it is true and thrifty and fun.

• Hair stylists think every woman needs her hair colored. I don’t agree.

• What you see in the mirror and what others see when they look at you are often wildly divergent.

• It’s difficult to take advice gracefully and gratefully. But it’s also difficult to give advice gracefully
and inoffensively. If it were all given and taken gracefully, gratefully and inoffensively, no one
would watch the show.

• Bras are a good thing.

• Always have something that “pops”, some bit of color somewhere.

• Most women in the US must have more purses than I do. That’s OK with me. I’d rather buy books.

• Clothes aren’t the most important thing about you, but they can get in the way of people seeing what
that most important thing is.

• Some clothes should never be made in any country by anyone, union worker/homemaker/slave
labor/other, and if made, should never by worn…by anyone.

• I will never refer to a woman’s breasts as “The Girls” (caps intended)!! Ever!! If I do, just shoot me.

Your third place

Where is your third place?  “Third place”, a concept picked up on by Starbucks and coined by Ray Oldenburg in his book “The Great Good Place”, is a place of community separate from the first place, home, and the second, work.  A third place is a place that’s “important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place” (Wikipedia). Oldenburg says third places are vital for community life and improved interactions.  He further states that (again according to Wikipedia), that these are “hallmarks of a true ‘third place’: free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.”

 Today I grabbed several rejuvenating hours at one of my third places, my favorite oasis of calm, TeaLula in Park Ridge, Illinois, http://www.tealula.com/.  TeaLula’s not frou-frou, not at all like an English teashop ( I’m not putting down English teashops, mind you, although last time I was in London, most of the teashops were Starbucks); an eclectic space that appeals to people of either gender and of all ages. The décor is clean wood, has discreet but attractive lighting, with lots of color and interest provided by the various teapots, cups and tea paraphernalia for sale.  A wall with probably a hundred wooden cubbyholes holds bags of tea, ready for sale and complete with description and instructions. A container of each tea is available there too, so that you can open the container and smell the tea. Every day there’s a different tea featured on the tasting table and if you’re uncertain what you’d like, even after their advice, they’ll happily brew up a small amount of whichever tea you’d like to try for you to taste before making your final decision.

You won’t just see women of a certain age chatting over their tea.  City workers (male, too) come in, policemen, as well as older couples–regulars who come in to sit, have tea and talk with the knowledgeable, friendly help; high schools students (both male and female) traipse or saunter in after class or during days off; in essence, no one feels uncomfortable there, except maybe those who only drink coffee…and then only if they won’t try one of the hundred or so teas on offer.  They’re always welcome to sit with a tea-drinker, talk and relax.  Or you can get your tea to go, hot in winter, iced in summer, however you like it.

I discovered TeaLula when our younger daughter needed a ride to meet a friend from her time in Japanese camp the summer before.  Turns out TeaLula is one of the places he likes to hang out which is, probably, a bit unusual for a teenage boy.  When we parked outside on the edge of Park Ridge’s attractive downtown area and a stone’s throw away from the Metra station, the plan was to drop my daughter off, then I would go somewhere else, so she and her friend could hang out in peace.  Once I glimpsed the selection of teas, there was no way I was leaving!

This isn’t a Starbucks or Caribou; there are two small tables in each of the two front windows and a small number of seats at the tea bar farther into the store.  There’s no wi-fi; this is a tea-drinking, conversation-encouraging establishment.  There are scones for sale and perhaps a few other edibles, but you’re encouraged to stop at a nearby bakery and bring your spoils in for noshing.  I’ve often brought my own from home or elsewhere and that’s not only fine, they’ve provided a plate, silverware and a napkin when needed.  Definitely above and beyond.  But in the popular parlance, that’s how they roll.  They’re all about treating you like family and friends.

There are teapots (china, clay or cast iron) for sale, teacups from formal to whimsical, tea strainers, aprons, soaps and beauty products with tea in them, just part of an every-changing array of tea-related things.  You never know what you’ll find when you arrive.  My splurge some months ago was an electric teapot that has a temperature setting so that I can prepare all my teas, green, oolong or black, at the recommended temperature (on the package). There are also plenty of tisanes, Hercule Poirot’s favorite, for those avoiding caffeine—“teas” that don’t contain tea or caffeine but are herbal or plant infusions.  They even have a tea to help you sleep, but wait to drink it until you’re at home.  And as an aside, the name of your favorite tea makes a great password whenever you need yet another passord!!

Even though this is a place to relax, you’ll be on the cutting edge.  Pick up a Belly card or use the one you got from another participating establishment, http://www.bellycard.com/locations, and start earning rewards points with your first purchase.  (Doesn’t surprise me that this came from the inventors of Groupon, http://www.openforum.com/articles/belly-up-to-the-digital-loyalty-card-groupons-founders-have.)  And as a completely unrelated aside, if you’re a displace Nebraska Cornhusker fan, try a cup of Big Red Fred, named after those same Huskers and Sheila’s lovely husband, Fred, whom you might see in the store sometimes.  Sheila’s also brought her considerable business acumen to bear on downtown Park Ridge, by starting the First Fridays program, http://firstfridayspr.com/, where participating merchants stay open late on the first Friday of the month and a themed event, such as the first one “A Night of Art and Artists” featured artists and their work in the various businesses.  I was excited to meet the architect of the store and to be able to tell him how much I like the space he created there. But even with all the up-to-date technology, the activity and the copious, often-changing stock of tea and tea-related items, I never feel rushed.  This is a place for retreat, a third place to meet, greet and talk.

But that first day, once my daughter and her friend had taken one table, there were no seats left except at a table with a woman already seated.  As I looked at the teas, I fell into conversation with her, she invited me to sit with her and we spent a lovely couple of hours getting to know each other.  We’ve seen each other there (by choice) since.  But even if you go in alone, Sheila, the owner and Certified Tea Specialist, Ryne, the tea guy, blog writer (http://www.tealula.com/blog) and more, or any of the other knowledgeable and friendly workers, will chat with you and make you welcome…or let you sit in peace if you desire.  And just so I don’t forget, you can order your tea online if you’re not able to get to TeaLula in person.

There are other places to buy tea that are closer to me.  To get to TeaLula, near O’Hare Airport, from Naperville takes a good half hour if the traffic isn’t bad.  I can get wi-fi by stopping at Caribou or Starbucks, but tea is more of a sideshow there, although Caribou has become much more tea-friendly. There are two other tea places in Naperville that sell excellent tea and are staffed by knowledgeable, friendly people.  But they aren’t sit-down establishments.   Although I frequently them both and like them immensely, they’re not like coming home or visiting an old friend, where you can sit, relax, chat (or not) and have a cuppa. They aren’t third places. That takes a special place, a tea-rrific one.  Thanks, Sheila, for making TeaLula that special third place!

Write on

Although there’s always been power in the written word, I think there’s more power now in the age of
the internet, emails, cell phones and texting, because so few people actual write on paper. “In the old day”, people wrote letters; literally wrote them. They kept diaries, not blogs, and many diaries, even from hundreds of years ago, are still around. (That may be a good or bad thing, depending on what the person wrote, but we’ll leave that for now.) There are undoubtedly quite a few people of my generation who still have letters or cards from friends in a scrapbook or, more likely, a box in the attic, where these missives might be taken out periodically and re-read.

There’s power in that. There are memories. There’s the distinctive script of the writer, maybe even a drawing or doodle added. Things that bring that person to mind and to life.

When I started “writing” this, though, my thoughts were on the lost art of the thank-you note. Maybe it has more to do with gratitude, as exemplified in the title of Alexander McCall Smith’s book, “The Lost Art of Gratitude”. But let me ask you. How often have you gotten a thank-you note from someone to whom you sent a gift? How did it make you feel? And when you haven’t gotten one, how did that make you feel?

I’m not putting down any other form of thanks. Thank-you’s in person are fine, easy, and inexcusable to miss. We’ll agree that sending an email or thank-you e-card, or making a phone call all work, too. Also, let’s make it clear that not thanking the gift-giver in some way is completely unacceptable. We’ve given substantial weddings gifts and never had an acknowledgement of that fact. We’ve sent gifts to relatives and not heard a peep in return. Sorry. Not OK!! It’s not so much for me as for the person who received the gift; that person should realize the thought and sentiment that went into picking the gift or signing the check and respond with gratitude. That’s it. End of story.

But I think that in these days of communication by technology and despite the fact the US Postal Service keeps raising the price of stamps for less and less service, and sometimes not even polite service when it’s there, there’s something special about a hand-written note or letter. It shows you care. It indicates you took the time to respond, to show your thanks, appreciation and, yes, love. It says that even if you didn’t really like the gift or it wasn’t very much (but all that was affordable), whether it was handmade or from an expensive store, you appreciate what lay behind the gift as much or more than the gift itself. And it shows you, in return, took that little extra time to indicate your understanding and your love and affection.

It doesn’t matter if you bought a card (Half Price Books has cute, inexpensive boxes of thank-you cards), made a card, wrote note, sent a postcard or wrote the note for your child who can’t yet write, wrote it right below the thing that’s an unrecognizable picture of something, something you thoughtfully labeled. What matters is the thought, brought into tactile form by the written communication. What matters is the love. And the gratitude. And it matters for your sake; you, the person who received the gift and now are giving a little something in return.

So say thank-you. And if you want it to be a little more special, consider writing a thank-you note

Brrrrrrr-ding ’round the world

Sunday afternoon. The sun’s shining, giving the illusion that it’s warm outside. My husband’s at work and I decide to combine business with pleasure by taking a walk for exercise (which I both like and is good for me) and the joy of being outside on a sunny winter day.

I pull out my Nano, a Christmas gift of some years ago, chosen by our younger daughter, prepare to put on my walking shoes and my phone rings. I talk to our older daughter, on her way home from weekend grad school from which, after two years of weekends, she’ll have her MBA. I hang up, put on my shoes and my phone rings. Our younger daughter, asking where a food item is (she’s six hours east of me.) My mind soars from Naperville to Cleveland, heads downstairs to the panty, locates the pasta and then lets her go down to fetch it. I put on my reading glasses, select a podcast, put in my ear buds, take off my reading glass, put on my dark glasses (looking chic, now), open the garage door…and my Nano dies. Drat! Forgot to charge it again or rather, let it sit too long, even turned off. Evidently doing nothing takes energy, too. Take out my ear buds, unlock the door, attach the Nano for charging and finally leave.

I walk a block from the house and start around the lake that sits between our housing area and a main road. For all that, it feels like being away from the houses, in a small nature bubble. I walk quickly. There are some dried milkweed pods on tall stalks, rising above the other dead, brown plants. On the lake are two ice continents, one Greenland to the other’s Australia. Greenland is populated by geese, walking carefully across the ice. On the land between the lake and the road, another large gaggle walks, pecks and occasionally honks. They’ve already left droppings on the paved path but I’m sure there are more in the grass. Periodically, a small group of land geese head for either the open water at the end and edges of the lake or some do the same in reverse.

As I walk farther, I see, at the edge of Australia, a few seagulls, fighting over a large piece of what appears to be sushi from the open water. The seagulls are more active, both flying more and fishing. Further on, past the weeping willow with its hanging brown strands are some ducks, looking amazingly like the rocks around which they’re swimming and being an excellent advertisement, as are the geese, for the insulating qualities of down. I love to see ducks upend themselves while eating, keeping their heads underwater for amazing amounts of time. The ducks stay mostly at the far end of Australia, away from the seagulls. Around the edges of the ice continents are narrow waterways with wind-whipped waves hurrying along.

I make the round-the-world trip twice, warm when walking one way, the wind behind me and the sun feeling good. As soon as I round the far end of the lake, the Australia end, the wind is in my face, the sun behind my back not as strong. The tops of my ears get cold and the gloves go back on. But it’s exhilarating and I’m glad I came, sharing the sun and cold with the birds.