A RANDOM ACT OF COOKIES

WHAT'S THIS, LEFT ON OUR FRONT PORCH?...

...A BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONTAINER OF COOKIES!

Friday, 8:45 AM.  16 degrees F at the ferry dock, 12 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, calm with light gusts.  The sky has a low overcast, it is foggy and snowing, the visibility very poor, the humidity 85%.  The barometer is steady at around 30.55" of mercury.  The ten day forecast is for more of the same, and becoming very cold, 0 and below. We have about 6" of snow on the ground and it is rather slippery.  We had errands to run in Ashland yesterday afternoon, and as the snow picked up again it became quite slippery,  and it was an unpleasant drive back to Bayfield in the early darkness.
   We were saddened by the passing of John Glenn; astronaut, senator and quintessential American hero.  I was twenty six years old and working high on a scaffold during the construction of a new hospital in Milwaukee when he orbited the earth.  Our earth-bound crew listened to radio accounts of his flight high above us as we worked, proud we were at last catching up with the Russians.  It was a great time to be an American.

   Yesterday, while scraping snow from the front walk I noticed a container sitting on the Aldo Leopold bench by the door.  I don't know when it arrived or how long it had been there, but upon opening it I found it chock full of home made cookies.

   Now it might have been left by Saint Nick, as December 6th is his saint day; that's what Joan thinks.  Anyway, it reminded me of the long ago tradition in our family, when the kids were little, of hanging small treats..cookies, oranges,  children's books, etc...in their stockings on the fireplace mantle for St. Nick's Eve, as a prelude to the real Christmas.  St. Nicholas was celebrated in both our families when Joan and I were children, a charming Old World tradition now pretty much abandoned, I fear.

   I thought it more likely to be one of those Random Acts Of Kindness we hear so much about these days, as there was no note with it to identify the giver.  Maybe it was left because we are on some organization's list, as oldsters in need of encouragement and cookies.

   I am going to cover all the bases, and call it A Random Act Of Cookies, and much appreciated.