Sprinkles Included!
Sprinkles Included!
“When I die,” I said to Dane, “I bet someone will say, Thank goodness, there’ll be no more cards with those obnoxious sprinkles inside!”
Dane replied, “Or cards with a wind-up butterfly that zooms out, scaring you to death.”
We were driving home after a quick trip to the post office, where I ran inside and came back out giddy, waving a sheet of red heart stamps and crowing, “This is my third sheet!”
It’s not even the end of January, and I’m on my third pack of Valentine's Day cards. Dane reminds me it’s over three weeks away, but I want to get a head start. I assure him I’ll wait to put them in the mail.
He smiles. I continue: “Remember a few years ago when I decided to send Valentine's Day cards to all the dogs we know?”
Duncan, Mario, Francis, and Honey Buns received cards from Téte, Ruben, and Finnegan that year. It wasn’t until I ran into Honey Buns' human, Lisa, that I knew the idea had failed. Lisa said it had taken her a while to figure out who sent the card. Later I heard the same thing from Francis’s mom.
“Oh well,” I tell Dane, “I thought it was fun!”
Again, Dane smiles. He knows my whims well.
Last year, searching for anything flat that I could tuck into the cards, I decided on designer bandages. Inside, I wrote a ditty: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Happy Valentine's Day, I’m stuck on you! Yesterday Karen mentioned that she still has Band-Aids from one of my cards. I’m glad she’s had no need to use one yet.
A few days ago I found myself once again strolling up and down red-filled aisles, looking for something flat that would fit inside an envelope. There wasn’t much, but I did buy a few packs of teeny tiny sticky notes. They’re adorable and can be tucked nicely inside a card without making the postal clerk suspicious.
I invest a lot of mental energy on figuring out what I can slip into a card without the postal lady saying, “No, Jane, this will cost you a few bucks extra.” I keep a supply of hand warmers, packages of flower seeds, tiny pewter hearts, sheets of stickers, small jewelry cloths, various charms, Band-Aids with cute characters on them, and lots of sprinkles for just this purpose. Cards without a bonus inside the envelope just don’t seem as much fun to me.
Sarah, who opened a card from me while her husband was driving, will tell you differently. Her card contained a wound-up paper butterfly, and apparently she screamed, almost causing her husband to drive off the road. Sheesh, who’d ever think someone would open their mail in the car?
Dane, on the other hand, is always thrilled when I mail cards to him. He enjoys getting something other than bills or advertisements in his mailbox.
Many people seem to despise Valentine's Day, which makes me want to honor it even more. Of course, I think every day is a day for celebrating love, but on Valentine’s Day, it’s on steroids.
According to the story, Pope Gelasius officially established the holiday as the Feast of Saint Valentine in the late fifth century. Saint Valentine is considered to be the patron saint of lovers, people with epilepsy, and beekeepers. Hallmark started mass-producing cards for Valentine’s Day in the early 1900s.
For me, this holiday is one of the ways I mark the colder months of living in Wisconsin: with dates that are all perfect for card giving.
First there’s Thanksgiving, which warns us to clean up our yards and take our patio furniture inside. Then comes Christmas, and if you haven’t taken in your doormats, they are now permanently frozen to your deck until spring and will make shoveling snow a real pain. Our household always anticipates January 1, as we adore a blank new calendar. Finally, February 14 arrives, and spring is just around the corner!
“There isn’t much to look forward to, in the sense of holidays and card giving, after Valentine's Day,” I gripe to Dane, hinting that a gift certificate for one of his fabulous foot rubs would be welcomed.
Meanwhile, not being able to wait, I’ve mailed out a slew of love cards ahead of schedule. I justified it by only mailing the ones that go to Madison, Milwaukee, Illinois, or beyond, knowing it will take them longer to get there.
In the end, cards are an inexpensive way to brighten someone’s day, keep the post office operating, and celebrate love...sprinkles included!
