Tis the season where we can all be thankful for friends and family, rejoice in our faith and celebrate in the coming of the New Year with the hope it will be better than the last. This, of course, is balanced with the frantic preparations to host said family and friends, fight through traffic and parking at the stores to get the final copy of the latest video game, clothing which you hope the recipient likes or the newest gadget from (insert tech overlord here) which you know will be obsolete before Easter. My particular stressor is watching the “Track Package” function on Amazon. Every year during my online gift ordering frenzy, I neglect to check if Amazon distributes all of my purchases.
When I was young, I would wait on the top of the stairs for my older brother to arrive home for Christmas Eve. I would spend hours waiting in the dark to hear the sound of a key in the door and the rattle of the slightly loose doorknob. I would worry he was not going to make it for Christmas, that something had happened to him on his trip from downtown Toronto to our family home in Don Mills. Eventually, I would start to drift to sleep and I would go back to my room praying that he would be home come morning. It was a horrible feeling.
I get the same feeling when every day, multiple times a day, I go on to Amazon and check the Tracker to see if the gifts I ordered in November will arrive in time for Christmas. Like Santa, I envision my orders circling the globe over and over again. Instead of waiting for the key in the door or the rattle of the doorknob, I wait for the satisfying thud of a package.
In the hopes of relieving this stress, I have chosen an artist to highlight in my McTavish’s Picks section. Renata Brawshaw brings to life the beauty of nature in sketch and pastels. Looking at her work has a calming effect on me, and brings back camping trips and cottage visits.
Keeping with the theme of helping lower your stress this holiday season my Recommended Reading this month is The Hanged Man’s Noose, by Judy Penz Sheluk. This the first in the Glass Dolphin Mystery series and was also Judy’s highly successful debut novel. This book is a pleasure. I equate reading this story to sitting down in a big comfy chair after a long day and forgetting all the things that worry you. From the moment I started reading, I felt I had lived in the town of Lount’s Landing all my life. The story unfolds in such a way that you don’t realize you have been given clues or provided motive; you just want to see what the next page holds. Do yourself a favour and read this book, and I’ll keep waiting for the thud of a package at the door.