Some assembly required--yikes!
A typical computer tumbler
All of us who have raisedchildren have spent more than one Christmas Eve—and into the wee hours of ChristmasDay—assembling various gifts from Santa. My children’s father was not particularlyadept with tools or construction or such, so the sight of him trying toassemble a child’s bike or trike was often enough to send me to the kitchen foranother glass of wine. And then there was the year he built a life-size “house”for them our of oversize construction toys. Not Lincoln Logs, but I can’t thinkof the name. You’d know if you saw them—plastic tubes plugged into roundconnectors. My four children were properly awestruck by Santa’s construction abilities,and my lips were sealed.
We even see cartoons about parents,usually the dad, trying to assemble toys, but nobody talks about assemblingChristmas gifts after the fact. This year I have two most welcome gifts thatrequire some installation or, at least, figuring out what to do with them. Oneis a cuckoo clock. My mother had a traditional German cuckoo clock, and thechildren were always fascinated by it, though they were strictly warned not topull on the chains. With the memory of his grandmother’s clock in mind, Jamiebought me a cuckoo clock, only this one can be programmed for many differentbird sounds. First, there’s the problem of where to put it—the cottage iscrowded, but it must go in the living area. In the kitchen it would get greasyeventually, and in my bedroom, no one would see it. So we’ve pretty much founda spot where it will replace a vase of artificial flowers.
A digression: Artificialflowers in my living room? The two Volkswagen Bugs I have owned in recent years(the current one is twenty years old this year) had bud vases in the dashboard—littletubes like you’d see in a science lab that you coud fill with water and drivearound with fresh flowers. Maybe in Germany, but in Texas, they’d wilt in aday. So I had a succession of artificial flowers, including some Texasbluebonnets. Friends had given me a handmade wall-hung small ceramic containerand eventually I filled it with flowers from the car. No, I don’t usually havefake bouquets—but this one has sentimental value. It will, however, be moved tomake way for the clock. When Christian has time to figure out setting it, andJordan has time to hang it. I don’t think it has any hangy-down chains like theold clocks which is a blessing with Sophie and also with my space problem.
The other gift—from Colin andLisa—is a compost system, something I’ve wanted for a long time. At Thanksgivingwhen I was in Tomball at their house, I saw this stainless container on thecounter and finally asked—it holds scraps to be added to the composter. Thekids gave us two such cannisters—one for my kitchen and one for the main house.And I have a spot picked by the driveway, next to where we’ll put my herbgarden when spring doth come again. My understanding is that it needs sun, so Ithink this will be perfect. Mary D. did tell me tonight that once the contraptionbegins to make compost, it makes its own heat.
Today Jacob huffed and puffedthe huge box out to the cottage, where it has, to Sophie’s dismay, taken up herfavorite spot to lie by my desk. I hope tomorrow to open it and fish out thedirections. Obviously, I will need a lot of muscle help to put this together,but I am determined. The sooner the better.
Jordan is afraid the tumbler will be ugly in the driveway, but that seems irrelevant to me. Christian is worried aboutodor and a lot of work, but I keep assuring him neither will be a problem.Depending on how much we accumulate in the kitchen cannisters, they have to bedumped every two or three days—a three-minute chore. And they have a charcoalfilter for odor control, much like my indoor garbage can. Since neither themain house nor the cottage have a disposal (long story), we keep garbage incans. The cannister can’t be any more of a problem than the garbage can. I’m excitedabout using the composter, partly so plants will flourish but also so I canlessen our footprint.
How about you? Have you had tofigure out where to put the wonderful things given to you over the holidays?Now there’s that set of small dishes for soy and wasabi to accompany sushi.They’re lovely, and I’ll use them for a variety of things, but where to keepthem?
As I write, it’s late, cold,and rainy. Sophie has not been out all day, and my problem is to convince herthe better part of wisdom would be to go now before I go to sleep. Sleep tighteveryone. I always think a gentle rain is conducive to good, peaceful sleep. Sothat’s my wish for all of you.
