Christmas 2023

The first gift that I wrapped had Marvel superhero paper and a tag that gave what I worried was too obvious of a clue to the content. It read, "To defeat Thanos" and was signed "Barnabus". Very few people would figure this out, but William might. Thanos was defeated through the clever use of time travel. Barnabus Collins, sometime in the middle season of Dark Shadows, also uses time travel and does so through the use of I Ching wands. The gift was a set of 60 or so I Ching wands that I found over Amazon. When they arrived, they smelled terrible. They are probably a few years (or a few decades) old and were produced to look like they were made in the 19th century. They are thin wood inside a lacquered paper cylinder (rather than wood, which would have been authentic to an actual antique). The cylinder was inside an oily cardboard box which was the source of the fowl scent. With it removed, the whole thing is pretty okay. William bought an extensive book on the I Ching in the summer but doesn't have the wands. It is part of his collection of old fortune telling devices. 

Our morning began with making a cheesecake and setting it to cool while I put a turkey in the oven. We did supper at Lori's with my mom and Al's parents. Sean didn't make it in and Shim is in China with the baby until later in the week.