Christmas cards and gifts

The Christmas cards are rolling in. J. and I are happy to receive them, of course. A few observations.

This seems to be the year of the printed address label. Last year, if memory serves, every envelope we received was hand-written. Now, at least half a dozen were printed. Fire sale at Avery? Or did Google introduce a new address book application with a label printing feature that I missed?

The photo cards have not abated. We’ve received seven so far! As last year, only one features the entire family. The rest is just kids. At least my former co-worker M.P. gets points for being cute by snapping her three kids and the dog cross their street on an old-fashioned pedestrian crosswalk, Abbey Road-style. One card is even from a childless couple – the picture is of the two of them. Tacky? I guess you could argue that it’s nice for friends and family who haven’t seen them in a long time. At least they could have air-brushed the red eyes out.

The strangest thing is that our friends C.&S., whom we visited Saturday night, only have two photo cards in their batch. I have always seen them, incorrectly perhaps, as much more family-oriented and tolerant of children than us old cranks (well, me anyway), so I would naturally expect them not only to know more people with kids, but be thought of among their friends as people who would enjoy receiving the photos. But for some reason we got the brunt, not they.

Ranting aside, though, we are happy to be receiving the cards, especially from people who live far away and whom we don’t get to see regularly. Our friends may even be eating into my Christmas card trade surplus – I still sent out more than we received this year, but the gap has shrunk somewhat. I’m counting on J. to widen it back up once she sends out her traditionally late batch.

I should also point out that people are giving us really nice presents this year. Mostly books, and really excellent or very promising-looking ones at that. Makes me feel a bit like a cheapskate. I’ve been giving people books for years, but I must admit that my thought process is frequently something along the lines of “hey, that looks like X. might enjoy it.” But a few of my friends have clearly given a lot of thought to their choice this year, in some cases remembering the conversations we’ve had earlier in the year. The highlights so far: Lenin’s Tomb by David Remnick, from S.G. S.G. always turns up with something interesting, and while I won’t presume to rank his previous presents in order of desirability, I have a feeling it won’t take me nearly as long to get to this year’s contribution as it sometimes did in the past. GULAG: A History by Anne Appelbaum, from C.S. Again, C.S. has come up with some fascinating additions to my bookshelf in the past, but I’ve been wanting to read Appelbaum ever since she published the book five years ago, and thanks to him now I have no excuse not to. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan (hardcover, too!), from K.R. Very pleasant surprise, and way above and beyond the call of the occasion. Thank you!