Gift...Guide?
Gift guides are always puzzling to me. As I write this, it is November 29 th and I feel behind. Not for any logical reasons other than because marketing and commercials have made me feel like the holiday party has started without me. The ads have not explicitly said- YOU ARE BEHIND- but the sheer image of happy, energetic people dressed in red and white, packages wrapped under perfect Christmas trees in homes with floor to ceiling windows decked out with lights and snow, and the sales that “won’t last” all contribute to my feeling behind. In urgency, I turn to Gift Guides by the “experts.” For my Mother the options generally go something like: gourmet cookies from a bakery in New York, an edible gift which will last about a week; slippers, which she already has a well-loved pair; a gift given in her name, which my Mother will not be impressed; a $300 cashmere turtleneck that I wouldn’t even spend on myself. None of those particularly jump out at me. For Dad, there are gadgets, knive