Whew! Back from the show, and it was lots more fun than this year's Pirate Fair ... but that happens when one's only responsibility is to fire guns and look piratical, vs. having obligations and other stressful happenings attacking. ;) According to this weekend's experience, though, pirates can't talk properly, so I have something to blame for my current inability to express myself efficiently. ;D
Anyway, came back to a couple of packages, one of which is from Germany and had to be picked up at the post office. I haven't opened that one yet ... but the other package was from Anne of Eccentric Pastiche and LiberTeas. I knew it contained my ornaments from this year's swap ... but! It also contained a copy of the collaborative calendar that I did the January artwork for -- even though I didn't order a copy! And that's where the Christmas spirit comes in.
The mini-story that I sadly told Dear Brian a few weeks ago is that I ought to have ordered a calendar for myself, at least, because it only seems right that I try to have copies of things my artwork appears in. I've had a bit more of a funds shortage this year than I have in the past, though, so I ended up waffling till I missed the order deadline, and I didn't make enough effort to remind my family to buy copies, so I expected never to see the calendar ... which was a teense depressing. My melancholy no longer has a foundation, however, because Anne the Amazing sent me a copy and even I won't mope without a reasonable reason. ;)
This means a lot to me, even though it seems like such a small thing, precisely because the small things are so often lacking in my life and relationships. People who care still neglect the little details, and I rarely feel as if they understand enough to anticipate how they can add brightness to my life (or anyone's) with a smallish gesture that nonetheless takes a little forethought. Even though I've never met Anne in person, she's thoughtful and perceptive enough to have done what most of my friends and family never do ... and to defy the mediocrity-inclined luck pattern of my life. So thank you to Anne Downen for actually giving me something to be appreciative of this holiday season; thanks for making my holiday season actually start to feel like one. ;) Now I can look at my art ornaments this Christmas and know that it's partly thanks to art and tea that one person out there has given me a tiny reason to keep believing in human potential. ;D
Now I'll go have some LiberTeas No-Name Tisane, a.k.a. Heron's Sanctuary tea, if I remember correctly. Yayyy, tea! ;)
