Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts

Saturday, October 30, 2010

What's To Come In November?


This National Novel Writing Month (November) competition has been burrowing beneath the surface of my mind, like the old cartoon of a impish demon on one shoulder and a comely angel on the other, each offering counsel as to whether or not I should see this troubling endeavor through to the end. Day by day my mental quandary builds. The basic problem seems to be: do I really want to do this thing? At its core -- "It's more trouble than it's worth," whispers the demon, and, "What do you have to lose?" cozens the angel.

Then:

Yesterday I was surprised to receive a large parcel from the UPS delivery man -- it contained a beautifully bound Eccolo Writing Journal, a bright white coffee mug decorated with the logo of the NaNoWriMo competition, an Noveling pen featuring the competition's name, a package of Tully's Italian Roast coffee, and a package of Pepperidge Farms Tahiti Coconut cookies. All this was accompanied by an elegant greeting card exhibiting a print of Field Of Poppies, Tuscany, by Charlie Waite. Inside the card, in truly gorgeous penmanship, was inscribed:

After all, they're only words.
One word follows the one before.
Enjoy November 2010.

And I found that I had no words immediately available to express my deeply heartfelt appreciation for such a thoughtful gift. All I could say, aloud, at that instant, and then again, (twice more) was "That guy..."

My son said, "Someone gives you such a fine, thoughtful gift and all you can say is, "that guy?"

And I am still, a day later, nearly speechless.

What words that time might bring I cannot tell --

...or what action.