Thinking About How The Thought Counts

I was out earlier with the Sierra Club people I volunteer with for our annual holiday dinner at this Vietnamese restaurant in Philadelphia. We all have our holiday traditions, right? It's awesome, if you're within striking distance, go. So anyway, the subject of the holidays comes up, as it will when the holidays are two weeks away, and this one fellow of Teutonic persuasion mentioned that he gives everyone he knows a very traditional gift: a bowl of oranges and nuts. And I was struck by that, thought it was charming. Sure, you could give a person a car, or real estate, or some special thing the person would not give to him- or herself. But most people in developed countries have everything they could ever possibly need and way too much more. On the other hand, a bowl of oranges and nuts—well, it's all there, isn't it? Tradition, by all means. And opulence—oranges are among the most delicious things on the planet, and so are nuts, in a different way. Both are a little special—not staples, not ordinary. And yet in our world today, they're not exactly luxuries either. They're a treat, I suppose you could say. At any rate, I was struck for a moment by the charm of the idea. Let's put it this way: I would like, at least in my imagination, to give a bowl of oranges and nuts to everyone I've ever cared about. A little something extra in your life, to please you, because you deserve it. I'm not Santa, and can't give you a bagful of presents, everything you've ever wished for. But I'm well aware that you're more nice than naughty, and the  imaginary oranges and nuts are sincerely offered in gratitude for your awesomeness. I wish I had more to give. But the peeled and sectioned orange, so piquant and juicy, the cracked nut, so rich and savory—I want that for you, my friends. Hearth and home, life and love, oranges and nuts, the so-called simple pleasures. For some reason, on this bitterly cold, starlit night, I'm thinking about my true friends in this wide world, and wishing all that for you. Oranges and nuts, and all the rest.