Photo Credit: State Archives of Florida, Florida
Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/109660
A Cherokee boy climbed a high mountain, seeking his
vision. As he toiled upward, an old
rattlesnake begged, “Please pick me up. I
want to see my last sunset from the top of the mountain.” Wisely, the boy ignored him, but the snake
persisted: “Please! I’m cold! I won’t hurt you!”
Finally, the boy picked up the snake. He carried it up the
mountain and together, they watched the sunset.
As they started down the mountain, the snake bit the boy and
the boy cried out in protest.
The snake said, “You knew I was a rattlesnake when you
picked me up!”
I’ve had the same experience. Not with snakes and vision quests, but with
Christmas gifts.
Last year, at the last minute, we decided to spend Christmas
out of town with one of our children and her family. I had procrastinated buying gifts because
life was crazy and I thought I’d take care of them after Christmas when we’d
planned to go.
On Christmas Eve afternoon, when we should have been
leaving, I was ransacking the house for gifts.
I found books for some of these grandchildren, but I had nothing for the
five-year-old boy. Nothing but a set of
dollar store plastic tools.
I wrapped them and we hit the road.
The next morning, our little guy opened his gift.
“That’s lame,” he murmured, going in search of large, tantalizing
packages.
My husband gasped.
“That’s REALLY lame!”
From the floor, orange plastic pliers opened their jaws and
said, “You knew we were lame when you wrapped us up!”
Immediately I switched from Christmas mode to New Year’s
mode and made two resolutions for 2013:
1. My husband would shop for the grandchildren’s
Christmas gifts.
2. I would
create something memorable for the grandchildren for their birthdays. Something not lame. But not expensive.
Finally, I had an
idea. The online service where we develop digital photos has a “collage” option. I could create a collage with five to six
photos of each child and—here’s the good part—write a poem about the child as
part of the collage.
It worked. The kids loved their collages—how can you not
love your pictures, and a poem all about YOU?
Want to try it? Try
to start at least a couple of weeks ahead of your final deadline—creativity
takes time. First, select no more than six digital photos, and think of them
while writing the poem. Focus on your loved one’s special qualities. Write two or three drafts; do your best, but
remember your loved one is not a poetry critic. If writing poetry is daunting, write
a sweet message.
Type the poem in your word processing system. Center it,
using a font that reflects the poem’s mood. Use boldface type and the largest
type size possible (perhaps + 24 point) while keeping the message on one page.
Print the poem, scan it and save your scan as a .jpg or
.jpeg file, so the photo lab will recognize it as a photo. Place this .jpg and
your photos on your computer desktop, then go to an online photo lab site and
upload them. Place them into an 8 x 10 collage.
The software shows different arrangements until you find the ideal collage.
Order, and voila’! A
gift that isn’t lame. With a frame, it costs about $7.
And if you see my husband—ask how he’s doing on that
resolution!
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