Happy Daddy

I am a hard person to buy gifts for. I've heard this for years. And apparently many other dads have heard the same thing. 

It's not that I don't have my interests: cycling, swimming, weightlifting, gardening, bourbon and barking dog silencing gadgets. It's just that I am of a certain age of non-delayed satisfaction. That is, if I want something I usually go out and buy it for myself with little or no hesitation. 

Going out is a misnomer. Why go out when I can, like some sort of King, order it from my desktop and have it brought to my doorstep by Amazon Prime.

This What-Should-We-Get-Dad for his Birthday or Father's Day or Hanukkah has plagued my daughters for years.  And quite possibly your children as well. 

But this year they outdid themselves. 

Having returned from a magical vacation with Ms. Muse and bludgeoning my daughter's ears with stories about the magnificence of Costa Rican coffee, you can imagine how happy I was to get this...

Four pounds of primo beans from the land greedy developers and over-builders forgot. If you haven't tasted coffee harvested from the "region of high, sharp peaked mountains where crops ripen evenly and produce a clean acidity and rich full bodied coffee", well then you just haven't had a great cup of Jose yet.

The astute among you may have also noticed the hand painted coffee mug, featuring Abby's rendition my dog Lucy. It's pretty damn close, but truth be told one of her ears is always standing up.

But wait there's more.

Since shedding a ton of weight -- I use that phrase figuratively -- my wearable wardrobe has significantly decreased. My closet is sparser than the bookshelves at Mara Lago, assuming they have any. 

When my uncle passed away in 2020, he left behind a bunch of clothes that were way too small for me. I disposed of most of them but held on to his very comfortable Eddie Bauer flannel shirts. In fact, one of them -- a Medium, no less -- has become my official MOSL (Man of Semi Leisure Everyday Shirt.)

You can imagine how delighted I was when, after a thorough search of Ebay and Etsy or both, I was gifted a second, identical shirt by my thoughtful kids.

A man can have everything, but never enough Eddie Bauer soft flannel long sleeve shirts.

I'm wearing it right now as I type this. 

But to be honest, I don't know which one!