Some of those gift possibilities won’t be books. Most of all I’m thinking of local bookstores, where you can say, “My son is into hiking” or “My husband loves John le Carré,” and a bookseller will start holding up options. The gift shops at local landmarks and museums, the family-owned toy stores with dusty shelves packed to the very rafters. The zero-waste store with the shampoo bars and the reusable mesh produce bags and the dryer balls made from organic wool. I’m thinking of the garden center with the pretty ceramic planters made by a local potter. But if you’re hoping to find something unexpected and delightful, you’ll need to go to the little local shops that have survived in the age of online shopping by being quirky and brave, and by knowing their customers well enough to say, “I think you would love this.” Big-box stores offer the advantage of one-stop shopping, especially if you aren’t picky. The supply-chain snarls may be giving us the nudge we need to putter about in our favorite shops again, looking for something that would make a loved one’s eyes light up. I’m remembering those long-ago shopping dates of ours and thinking it’s time to revive the tradition.
If the people you love have their sights set on something specific, God go with you as you make your way into the heart of supply-chain darkness. With the supply chain disrupted by pretty much everything - factory slowdowns, shipping-container shortages, ships stuck outside ports, not enough truckers - holiday shopping is shaping up to be a huge mess. Like taking an order.īut this is not the year for wish lists. It’s much more efficient just to ask people what they want and then go out and get it. Maybe it happened as our parents grew needier, and the time for browsing disappeared. It might’ve been during our children’s teenage years, when they began to want clothes - very, very specific sorts of clothes - or companion items for electronic devices we didn’t totally understand. I can’t remember when we stopped shopping for surprises. An entire day, alone with my husband, to choose surprises that would enchant the people we love best in the world! I hate shopping, but I loved those daylong dates. When our children were younger and time alone together was harder to arrange, my husband and I would set aside a single day for our Christmas shopping.