So I come across a big envelope, opened, on the gateleg table in the kitchendininglivingroom. It is clearly labeled "Hyphenated" in large, readable print. The only other person in the house who is both capable of getting the mail out of the mail box and of opening the letters is my husband, who has been briefed on the subject of "Why are those people call you 'EE-fe-nah-ted'?" Yet, the envelope lay opened. Hm. I sense that the Pollito resents being an E2 widower.
No obstante, what came to me more than made up for this little confusion. Five squares, knitted for the afghan by Segnbora-t and looking great, tumbled out of my pillaged post. I think I may have shed a tear or two. This the Pollito had to see.
"So they are not for the dog?" he asked. "I thought tha' the package might be for the dog. He gets mail, too." True. But the Pollito also thought it was kind of neat, that I was going to create this big afghan with all this work from other people. He said he would be happy to put all the envelopes that come into my "craft room", which is really our second bedroom, so that I could keep them safe from the depredations of the dog. Pippin is a terrier. He'll hunt down things and kill them.
So the next day brought another envelope, this time smaller but it was from all the way across the ocean. Two beautifully bias-knit squares from squeezie, and a note came out of this envelope. Cool. There was a note in the other envelope, too, to give the other noder her due. You have to hold an actual paper note from a noder sometime. It's like nothing else. To read the writing on the screen is an intellectual pleasure similar to getting a paperback. Reading an actual note is like having an autographed first edition. It's just cool.
Now, it is true that the deadline for squares submission for the afghan is past. Okay. I did promise to do the drawing on April 9, and I will. But I need a little more participation. If nothing else, imagine the pleasure that opening your real mail and reading your real note and appreciating your real handcrafted work will give this simple woman. This sweet simple woman who, just like the rest of you, loves her partner for life, and her little doggie, and her house in New Jersey, and only wants to give a little something back to this unique place we call E2.
Send me your squares. I will love them.
Don't make me play the Cancer card.