‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple…

November 18, 2015 | Originally published in the Laconia Daily Sun

Each time I drive around the curve and up the slight incline to look at the simple Shaker community on the hill I am filled with a sense of peace. There is the simplicity of the structures, the positioning of the buildings on the land that doesn’t interfere but rather contributes to the landscape and the pure naturalness of the scene. The community was designed to enhance the beauty of each season: colored leaves in the fall, the grandeur of winter when everything is white, and the spring and summer seasons when new life is emerging and then finally comes into full bloom.

Thanksgiving is still a week away, and yet it seems we are already shifting into thinking about the gift-giving season: Christmas and Hanukkah.Driving to New Hampshire from New York can be a tedious and visually numbing experience. One highway linked to another through E-Z pass terminals. The turning point is when the dome of the capital comes into view in Concord and I know I can turn off the highway and onto Route 106. Finally scenes of barns and fields come into view. Then I turn again onto the road that takes me past the Shaker Community in Canterbury (actually East Canterbury) and eventually into the town of Belmont.

According to the business media many retailers this season have too much merchandise and there is a concern that sales will not keep up with inventory.

I am one of the people who will probably not help traditional merchants as I find my gifts in local shops. My shopping will be done in New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving weekend. It is the simple gifts that seem to bring joy.

Last year it was a Sawyer colored photographic print for my brother who lives in Iowa and misses New Hampshire as much an I do. I found it in a local antique shop. My parents received Sawyer prints for wedding gifts and we grew up with them in our living room. One year I found an early musical instrument, a dulcimer, still in the original case for someone who loves music and is now practicing the piano again.

In my mind a gift isn’t special unless there is something about it that is creative.

Most of my visits to Laconia always include a stop at Kramer and Hall. One year they turned turquoise earning brought on a trip to Santa Fe into beautiful pins. On another occasion they helped me create two necklaces from vintage earrings from Spain.

There are a number of people on my list who love Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and of course a gift certificate to the Common Man is another favorite. There will be a trip to the lovely gift shop at the Shaker Village and probably a few vintage linens and evening purses for New York friends when I make an annual trip to Franconia and Littleton to visit the Christmas tree farms and enjoy, along with the children, the festive Santa Claus parade in Littleton the day after Thanksgiving. If you have any interest in vintage clothing the place to visit is Potato Barn Antiques in Lancaster. Their vintage clothing ranges from 1860 to the 1960s. One can spend an afternoon just trying on clothes and then finding the matching accessories, gloves, purses and hats.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo has been on the top of the New York Times self-help bestseller book list for weeks. Our lives have become too complicated and too cluttered. And in light of Paris, most recently, too violent.

“‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free. ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’twill be ‘in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gain’d. To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d, To turn, turn will be our delight. ‘Till by running, turning we come around right.” (probably composed by the Alfred Ministry, June 28, 1848, according to The Gift to be Simple by Edward D. Andrews, first published in 1940)

Elizabeth Howard’s career intersects journalism, marketing and communications. David R. Godine has recently published her children’s book, A Day with Bonefish Joe. She lives in New York City and has a home in Laconia. You can reach her at: [email protected]