All I want for Christmas

Top Ten TuesdayThe short days, the nights illumed by strings of Christmas lights, the Santas painted on shop windows, they’re all here. Which means that any day now someone is going to hit me with the question — what do you want for Christmas? — which makes me stutter and squirm because I’m supposed to have an answer.

I’m supposed to pause thoughtfully, and then utter something bright and original that makes the asker smile to herself and nod almost imperceptibly and add a Beth-thing to her mental shopping list and think, “Yes, I know how to fulfill that wish!”

Which would be very satisfying for all parties.

But no, I’m no help at all. All I can think of most years is a list of things I don’t want: no clothes please, no jewelry, nothing decorative (trust me, things don’t display well here in the zoo), no gadgets or gizmos. I’m just not much of a stuff person, and as I explained before the mere idea of acquiring more stuff I won’t actually use makes feel all squoodgy.

Scroogy, did I say? No, really, I promise, I’m not trying to be a Scrooge!

So I answer with my old standby, books, but that answer seems to offend people a little. As if I’m just saying it because I don't trust them to interpret my real suggestion properly. So I try, I swear, to think of something different, but what, I ask you, what does a girl like me need?

My Christmas ephiphany
I found the answer in my sock drawer. I was looking for a pair of socks last Friday, and Hugh the Marvelous had done a wonderful thing: the laundry—right down to the folding and the putting away. So there in my sock drawer was a day-making surprise: my favorite pair of socks, freshly laundered and rolled into a neat little ball. A jewel of a sock pair in a sea of white cotton—stripey SmartWool socks alive with color and, well... wooliness.

I pulled them on and wiggled my toes and smiled as I slipped my shoes on over them. My little secret. (Yes, some girls are concealing sexy lingerie; me, I'm grinning about my stripey socks.) I was so happy that I actually had a sock-related bounce in my step on the way in to work, and that’s when it hit me:

I know what I want for Christmas, now and forever!

SmartWool socks! They are perfect. They hug your feet snugly and keep your toes toasty, they breath and they’re cute. There are sporty “lifestyle” socks and running socks and hiking socks—every kind of sock a girl like me needs (with the notable exception of soccer socks, which I also love). On top of that, they have barely any packaging and are made primarily of Merino wool, which is, as the company's website says, “a sustainable, renewable, natural resource.”

I got my first ever pair, a cute & comfy running socks, from Cyril and Corinna (thanks, kids!!), and bought my only other pair, the stripey ones, with my always small REI dividend.

Now, I’m off to write my letter to Santa!

What are the top ten things on your Christmas wish list? I know I only had one thing, but I'm hoping you're better at this than I am!