Small pleasures

I’m not much of a Thanksgiving girl. It’s a good excuse for a turkey dinner, but it’s not a tradition I grew up with. I don’t think my Thanksgiving gap is all that unusual for Canadians. At least, I’ve met lots for whom it’s simply a very welcome long weekend, not a celebration. In my case, my Scottish family simply never really picked up the tradition. But Christmas? Now that’s a different story.

I love Christmas. Love the box of special ornaments that come out each year, the sameness of the things I bake and the people we see and the dinners we eat around the holiday. Love the traditions and the music and all of it. For me, Christmas is the time I think most about all I’m thankful for in this life. It’s a long list, mostly of the names of people I care about and who care about me. But there are a few utterly trivial items on there, too. Like this tool:

It’s cheap, ancient, and has its name printed on the side in all capital letters: MAYOKNIFE. Okay, so it’s descriptive, I suppose, but not of what I use it for. It was a freebie, more than twenty years ago, thrown in with some catalogue order my grandmother in Florida made. She gave it to me, undoubtedly along with the “diamond” ring that also came with the order (I had quite a collection of those at one time from her various catalogue orders.) It’s meant to get the last of the mayo out of the jar. I don’t know about you, but I inevitably end up throwing out out-dated mayo long before I finish any jar.

But for years and years, this ugly thing has been my kick-ass cookie lifter for taking hot cookies off cookie sheets and moving them to cooling racks. Yes, there are special tools for the task; I have a lovely one in a drawer in the kitchen. But I never use it. This cheap mayoknife is perfect for the task, thin and flexible enough to slip under any cookie without damaging it, and strong enough not to bend under the weight of even the biggest treats. And it won’t scratch my good cookie sheets, either. It’s a little thing, but little things can sometimes be the most satisfying.

May your holiday and the year to come be filled with pleasures large and small, things that bring a smile to your face and remind you what a joy this life can be. There are so many of them, when we take the time to pay attention. So wishing you the time, too, to notice them.

Merry Christmas!