A Road Less Travelled

Oh, fine I guess I’m thankful too. Humph.

I’m thankful for blankets. One might attribute my thankfulness for blankets to the growing chill (some might even say cold) in the air. But the fact is, I love blankets, and one of the things I greatly dislike about summer is that it’s too hot to use them. Perhaps it’s a bit of hiding-under-the-covers left in me, because I just don’t feel safe without a blanket. Everyone knows that a blanket is an impenetrable shield, and without one you’re a sitting duck in the darkness. Which makes me have to wonder, do ducks sit in the dark? Do they roost like chickens? Huh.

(Warning: this post gets a bit long and rambly at this point. If you really don’t care that much, this is probably the place to stop.)

Anyway, life just isn’t as warm and cozy without a blanket or five to curl up under, and coincidentally I do have five. But these are not just five random blankets. No, that would be far too normal. I have five very specific blankets.

The bottom blanket is a slightly fuzzy blue and white rose print that I bought because it reminded me of a scene in the book that Gabrielle and I wrote for Seth’s birthday one year. This was a freaky odd book, with us as the main characters, and involving traipsing around in people’s dreams. In this particular scene we’d ended up in my dream house, and we described in detail the books lining the walls, the big fuzzy pillows, and the cozy conversational arrangement of the room. As soon as I saw the blanket at a bag sale I knew it went in that room. So of course I bought it. I mean, wouldn’t you buy a blanket that belonged in a dream room in a story you once wrote?

Then comes the blanket Gabrielle put together for me out of random squares that I’d knit or crocheted and then lost interest in but saved because I could probably turn them into a blanket if only I didn’t hate joining squares so much. After that comes the blanket that Gabrielle made for me from scratch for Christmas one year. (Does anyone else see a theme here?)

Next is the red/blue/cream plaid blanket that I bought because it looks almost exactly like a blanket that we had when I was growing up, except bigger. Also less scratchy. Come to think of it, I was never that fond of the blanket when I was growing up, but as soon as I saw it at the thrift store I thought, “Oh, this is just like that blanket we used to have! I want it! How much is it?” Isn’t life odd that way?

Last is the blanket that some friends of the family gave me either for a graduation present, or a Christmas present the year I graduated. It’s purple fuzzy blanket the perfect size for curling up in and not too bulky for transporting. It has a small tear because we used it to wrap a sewing machine when we were going on a trip so we could hem napkins for someone’s baptismal feast while we were gone, but it’s still quite useful.

The only drawback to these memory laden blankets is that they are all a tad too small for the bed. This means careful arrangement is necessary to keep my feet from sticking out all night. Other than that, they’re  perfect. Sadly, the size issue probably means that someday I will have to replace my lovely blankets with ‘real’ blankets. Boring blankets. Perhaps even *gasp* store-bought blankets. However, until that day, I am very thankful for my blankets.