i can’t decide if today is the day to shop for my gal’s Christmas present, or if i should wait ’til tomorrow.  there’s something sweet about dashing around the mall after everything is picked over and the thing your loved one put on her wish list is no longer available. there’s a giddiness among those who scurry from one store to the next, filling their bags with impulse purchases that say, “i forgot that Christmas comes on the same day every year.”  if i shop today, i’ll miss all that festive befuddlement.

on the other hand, i’m not sure that a present is needed.  after all, she’s got me, the wild boy that came in from the cold.  it was exactly this time last year that she touched me for the first time and i found my purr.  we’ve had a full year of entwining our lives like wisteria vines, and since i could ask for nothing more, i assume that she wouldn’t either.

which brings me to the little guy, Spork.  if i’m everything to her, what does that make him?  everything prime?  it’s confusing.  but here’s the thing; he’s growing.  he’s up to two and a half pounds, and he runs around the house like the devil is chasing him.  when he encounters one of us adults, he turns sideways, flattens his ears and pounces!   he’s a cheeky boy, and though i hate to admit it, he’s hilarious.  he’s not just growing up, he’s growing on me, and…..i like him.

i suppose that’s what this season is all about.  you’re given something you didn’t want; something that seems pointless and off the mark, like all that crap the three wise men brought when they came from afar, when what Mary and Joseph would have liked was a nice pot of soup or a subscription to a diaper service.  or maybe it’s more like the shepherds dashing into town to see the new-born savior and finding no one that looked like they were in the saving business.  their haste to return to their flocks was surely no surprise to the new parents whose tiny human infant neither sparkled nor shone.  like Spelunk; worthless at first, but it turns out he matters more than i could imagine.

i think i answered my shopping question.  purr, y’all.