I know… What?? Socks?

Yup. Socks. Silly ones.

OK. Now that I have you wondering what kind of Saturday night I had, let me assure you that no one gets this way from a couple hours of house TV with some dishwashing on the side. It’s all natural.

I’ve always had a thing for socks: They keep your feet warm. They can be incredibly soft and cozy. They come in every color you can imagine. And most of the time they’re mostly hidden. So you can wear completely crazy socks, that totally rock your personality – and almost no one will notice. It’s your message to yourself. You have your own secret flare, that only other people who notice socks will get. Think it doesn’t matter? I saw the personality behind the outwardly shy, rockin’-the-socks job candidate. No one else saw the socks. The socks were just a signal that there was more there than met the eye. I asked more questions. The candidate is rockin’ the job now.

I’ve always invested in a few pair of silly, fun socks. Sparkly penguins. Little romping cats. Dogs chasing leaves. It’s a smile that follows me around all day. But my favorite silly sock story is not about my socks. It’s about a pair I bought for my very ladylike, very upstanding, very proper grandmother. (Yes, I bought my grandmother silly socks.)

Gram actually didn’t wear socks very often. Being raised in an era where women rarely wore trousers, she usually wore some form of thin hosiery. But she lived in Michigan and it gets cold there! And she loved elephants. LOVED elephants. She had the most wonderful collection of elephant figurines from all over the world. She and my grandfather travelled and she always found an elephant to bring home. So when I found a pair of crazy colorful ankle socks with a large appliquéd elephant on each, I couldn’t resist. I sent them to my Grandmother for her birthday. And when my lovely, always-a-lady Gram called me to say thank you, she was laughing so hard she couldn’t speak. It was one of the sweetest, most joyful moments we had together. It still feels like a hug to remember it.

What is there that costs less than $5 or 10 that you can give some one that brings a smile, keeps them warm, and says “I love exactly who you are”? Whether it’s socks, or something else, in this season of gifting, aren’t little things like that so much fun to find? Find some for someone you love. Find some for you.

Cheers to that secret spark (and sparkle) in all of us!

NaNoWriMo update:  On November 30, at 11:07 pm, I hit 50,115 words. WHEW!! The last few days were a RIDE – but I got there. It reminded me that I can do more than I think I can. This 50K word collage is surely NOT a completed work; but it is done and now I have something to edit.

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!