Even though I'm not a Wide Open Sharer here on the site, you still know quite a bit about me. Like a lot of True Blue Democrats, I'm an unabashed liberal. I listen to NPR. I drive a hybrid. I'm a conscientious recycler, and I like to support local enterprise. Two weeks ago, I stopped at my favorite produce stand to grab whatever they had for the end of the season, and to get some of their honey. Shirley, over at gfe--gluten free easily, is also a big proponent of honey. She and her husband are honey producers, and when I visited there last year, she taught me quite a bit about sustaining local honey. I use honey every single day, so I needed to buy big. Unfortunately, Mary's stand had none. She gave me the name of another beekeeper, but it was quite a drive, and I had other errands to do that day. One errand was to pick up cider at an orchard just minutes away and, as luck would have it, they stocked local honey from the very place that Mary had written down for me. I grabbed the Industrial Size and hit the road, feeling smug and saintly. I had gotten what I needed and helped out bees, local farmers, the local agro-economy, and my health. Holy crap, I was awesome!
But here's the deal: deep down inside, I am full of bullshit
My point--and I do have one--is this, Pressure Busting Tip #11: Just because it was easy doesn't mean you didn't care. Listen, if you can get online and get all your shopping done in one fell swoop and still have time to grab a glass of wine and watch Modern Family, then kudos to you! You have this on lockdown. My mother once walked into Target, grabbed a different little LCD handheld video game for each grandchild, a big package of AA batteries, and voila! Done. Toy part of gift = accomplished. And all the kids loved them. Like nuts. You know what it means when something comes easily to you? It means you are talented. Do you think Mozart was great at music because he didn't care? Or that Shakespeare could write plays as poetry and nail the human character so well because he didn't care? Please. We're good at this stuff. We can do it.
We're awesome.
Oh, local honey. There's a place nearby that serves amazing biscuits with honey so good I had to ask, "Where do you get it?" Happily, Steve's Bees is sold at some of our local Farmers' Markets, and at two of the grocery stores that I frequent.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that local honey helps with allergies, but I'm skeptical. I mean, perhaps it helps, but I have an unfond memory of the young man (oh, I'm old) ringing up my wine at Bev Mo, and his nose was running down his face. The woman in front of me asked him if he needed some allergy meds. "*Sniff* No, *sniff* I'm using *sniff* local honey *sniff*" To which I thought, thank goodness for Claritin.
Your point is a valid one. I work from home, and my job is quite often less than 40 hours a week, so I am free to take a walk or a bike ride to the grocery store to get the good honey or whatever I desire. There were times when I was in an office when this was not the case. People are amazed (and often horrified) when I tell them that I go to the grocery store every day. But I enjoy it. It's an excuse to hop on my bike or whatever, it gets me out of the house and seeing some people, that kind of thing.
My son loves honey, and we get ours from a local farmer's market. I can play a game of one-upmanship and say that I buy from someone who produces honey from rescued bees!
ReplyDeleteI kid, of course. Well, yes, they do use rescued bees, but my point is that there is always someone who is going to do something "more" than you. So just do the best you can and stop worrying about it!
Gina--Well, you Californians are really the liberal stronghold out there. LOL. Honestly, what an awesome bumper sticker that would make:
ReplyDeleteI BUY HONEY FROM RESCUED BEES
Not to mention that the English teacher in me likes the ambiguity in the construction. Bless you for helping rescued bees. Colony Collapse Disorder, homeless bees, relocated swarms, all of that is hard on the ecosystem of bees and therefore tough on farmers. You go!
J@jj--I go to the grocery store every week, which is a huge departure from the frequency at which I used to when I was working. Back then, my goal was once a month. I detested it. It was either an all-day Saturday with Rick and included the warehouse club, or it was me alone (unless I could wrangle one of the boys) after school. You can imagine the mindset and the speed.
Christmas shopping was similar. More enjoyable, but still that sense of "just get it all done". It's infinitely more relaxed now, and I can take off by myself for the day lots of times and go lots of places. I grab plenty of stuff online, too, because of the luxury of convenience. So nice! (And awesome.)
What a pleasant surprise to see this lovely mention, Nance! Thank you for that and spreading the honeybee and honey love! I'm so glad you found some really great honey nearby, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteSometimes easy gifts are simply perfect. For example, I used to fight buying gift cards, but for some folks (and from some folks) they are just perfect. We appreciate restaurant gift cards from relatives much more than most other gifts they would give us. I'm always open to Amazon gift cards, too, as they move me to buy books I've wanted, but had not indulged in. Easy can be good for all involved sometimes. ;-)
Shirley
While my mom liked to fill up the floor around the Christmas tree, my dad is all about the money. He's not going to go shopping - even for gift cards. Do you think we quibble about the check he hands us each year? Nosirree! He's happy to help us out & we're happy to spend his gift on our taxes :)
ReplyDeleteBug--There are plenty of people who balk at giving gift cards and money for Christmas. I understand their objections to a certain extent. They feel that it doesn't take a lot of thought and seems mercenary and impersonal.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel that way too, and then I just got over it. Especially if that is what the recipient wanted. I'd much rather give him/her something he'd really use than something he'd put in a garage sale or give away or worse, let go to waste. Your dad is making himself happy and you too!
Shirley--Oh, you're welcome! I'm happy to give credit for my new knowledge where it is due. And you make a really good point about gift cards in your comment. Sometimes they ARE very thoughtful in that they encourage someone to spend money on themselves in a way they wouldn't normally. Going out to dinner, buying a good book, getting a really good quality item of clothing--a gift card allows the recipient to splurge and get exactly what he or she wants, but still go out and get it, or risk wasting that gift/money from the giver.