Unexpected gifts along the way

I recently posted some pictures on Facebook of me and a friend with part of her collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia. Her classroom hosted all sorts of gifts she had received over the years. That’s the great thing about having a particular interest that family and friends know about — you always get gifts. Actually, that’s not always true; there usually needs to be a theme that has been well-marketed to have the gift items mass produced.

My cousin’s wife has the largest collection of pink flamingo items I have ever seen. All of it is subtly on display throughout their home so that it accents but never overwhelms the senses.

I had another friend who collected pandas, and it got to the point where she just devoted a spare bedroom to housing the collection.

I know another woman who has an extensive collection of “Wizard of Oz” items. I have to admit, that theme has probably had the best and most marketing teams creating clever gizmos, what-nots and collectibles of any other theme, including Elvis.

Being more of an eclectic collector — some would call it odd junk no one else wants — I don’t focus on any one theme. On occasion, I’ll mention something in one of my articles and it will resonate with a reader.

A while ago, I celebrated an amazing feat — for me — completing a newspaper crossword puzzle. I don’t do them often enough to get the gist of what the hints mean and tend to leave them undone when I’ve become thoroughly frustrated. I don’t even have the curiosity to check the answers in the paper the next day.

One day, a lady stopped in the office to give me an easy-to-do crossword puzzle book to start with so I could gain some confidence. How sweet was that? I’m happy to report that I’ve made my way through the entire book and got most of them correct. When I got really stumped, I would let myself look up the answers in the back of the book. I noticed a pattern that when I was stumped I would choose to stay with the first answer I put down and tried to make the rest work, when in reality the first word was wrong and had I considered an alternative word I would have been able to solve the rest of the puzzle. What’s a six-letter word for stubborn Norwegian? Miriam

What I loved best, though, was that someone cared enough to give me a gift — unasked for and totally appreciated.

In another column, I made a reference to Syttende Mai, which is May 17, celebrated by Norwegians becoming their own kingdom with their own constitution. In America, there are certain towns with a heavy make-up of Norwegians who celebrate the day here as well.

One of my readers, a friend of over 40 years, had sent me a note about the upcoming celebration in Eau Claire and that I might want to attend as my new favorite author, Michael Perry, will be there. She also included a pamphlet about celebrations taking place surrounding the 150th birthday celebration of Waldemar Ager.

Even though I attended college in Eau Claire, I had never heard of this man who was a contemporary of Rev. Homme. What they shared was their love of newspapers. I thought this would be an interesting event to go to and would help round out my knowledge of Norwegian immigrants and their contributions to Wisconsin, plus Michael Perry was a definite bonus.

I booked tickets for the dinner and entertainment for another friend and me to attend and got the confirmation that stated the entertainment would be provided by the Eau Claire Women in Theater. Hmmm, it’s not the first time I’ve incorrectly read a program or a note from a friend. Always interesting to have to make a decision after the deadline for canceling has passed.

The friend I’m taking to the event is a huge Michael Perry fan, but I’ve decided to not mention to her that he won’t actually be at this event. What the heck, she can take a joke, and maybe we can make plans to attend the May 17 event that he will actually be attending.

Miriam Nelson is the editor of the Wittenberg Enterprise & Birnamwood News.