By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher
I truly do not understand the meaning of the phrase: “Travel light.”
It was bound to happen. It was the inevitable next step in the holiday hustle. So, I’m not really certain why it was such a shock?
You know what they say about the best laid plans. Well, I had a solid plan in place. I was in the process of implementing said plan when Mr. Kaminski made a profound if not tentative inquiry.
“Honey, do all of these packages go to Colorado?”
“Of course. They’re for the holidays,” I cheerfully replied.
Now before we get too deep in the weeds, it is challenging to order and receive items in a timely manner out West. We do not have a mailbox as I refused to have yet another receptacle full of mindless paper that I had to manage. It made perfect sense to me. Unfortunately for the Pagosa Springs post office, the lack of that particular random receptable clearly means that we do not exist – at all. That doesn’t phase me one bit. In fact, I kind of like it.
That is until I order something online. The odds of me receiving it are slim and none if the items are being shipped USPS. Not one to take chances with gift-giving, I procured locally – supporting local businesses and all – and began the process of packing. After all, those sweet UPS and Fed Ex guys would deliver to me in Colorado if I packed all up and shipped with anything other than the Pony Express Postal Service. God love them.
Observing my packing process for a couple of days, Mr. Kaminski once again gently poked the bear.
“How much do you think shipping will cost?” he queried as the boxes got larger, and larger, and multiplied in number. In his defense, we were flying, so I felt my shipping scenario was a productive plan.
“Do I have a shipping budget?” was my retort.
“No, but I’m just thinking maybe we should drive since you’ve gotten so much done for the holidays already. Then we can take everything you need, and you won’t have to worry about shipping.”
The man is good, real good. I jumped on that bandwagon like a duck on a June bug. I promptly canceled flights, and since I now had more room, I went to town. After all, there’s lots of things a girl can really use for the holidays, and since both babies and their significant others were coming for Christmas, I decided the halls would be decked like a Hallmark Christmas movie. Yep, every headboard, kitchen cabinet door, flat surface and square inch of both inside and out would be decked, and I had plenty of delightful decorations to make this happen, so why not? I was not about to let Lifetime or Hallmark leave me in the decorating dust. It was on!
As I drug tub after tub of Christmas cheer out of the garage to load up, Mr. Kaminski never said a word. After all, this was his idea. So, we packed up like the Beverly Hillbillies without an inch to spare in our SUV and headed West only to arrive and find two boxes on our porch.
“I thought you didn’t ship anything?” Mr. Kaminski asked confused.
“I couldn’t just leave my sweet Fed Ex guy high and dry. After all, it’s Christmas.”
Nary a rebuttal on that logic – and for that, any so many other blessings – I am indeed thankful this Thanksgiving. I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with the things you love most. See y’all next week – on the porch! Ho, ho, hugs!
Patti Parish-Kaminski
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