An Embarrassment of Riches

Goose by Lemay

I was born in the Year of the Dragon, so a certain degree of craven hoarding is to be expected, right? That's my rationale, and I'm stickin' to it. That disclaimer said, I want you to know that I really do aspire to grace, compassion, tolerance, and certainly NOT to greed. So for years now I have very carefully separated the intense part of me that craves ALL wonderful things, by giving her a title and allowing her to desire and want all she cares to. I call her The Present Whore (PW to my friends), and I do my level best to keep a tight rein on her greed and glittering desire, but at the FIRST sign of a gift, she is Large and In Charge.

Today's mail brought not one, but THREE gifts that were EACH so fabulous, PW's dancing and spinning and laughing great gales of glee. In short, she's VERY pleased with her life at the moment. *Sigh* A completely incorrigible brat, that PW, but it's hard to be stern with her utterly guileless, completely selfish pleasure.

First opened was a fabulous Crow ATC from Lemay in NJ - I am SUCH a fan of Elaine's artwork, and this card makes TWO from her private stash she's been generous enough to share with me. Like me, Elaine's style varies widely, but I haven't seen a single thing she's done I wouldn't be very pleased to include in my collection. She's really a fine artist, though I don't know if she really understands that about herself.
Next I opened the envelope from ArtandSoul in Oklahoma, and found a veritable treasure trove! Connie and I arranged to trade chunky pages with a Raven theme, and the page I received is truly a fantastic addition to my book. In addition to a beautifully hand painted raven on one of my favourite dark red backgrounds, there were three leather medicine pouches with secret contents, and a fairly breathtaking polymer Raven skull Connie created for the piece. I have a couple of Connie's pieces from swaps in which we both were players, and my appreciation for her work just grows and grows.

At this point, I had to sit down, as I was rapidly finding it hard to breath from the sheer awe and appreciation that threatened to overwhelm me.

And finally I turned to the package from VickiZ in MN. Now I always look forward to an envelope or package from Vicki, as she is MOST inventive with dimensions and movement with her cards, and she truly seems to get who I am and what would please my core soul.

And boy howdy, I was NOT disappointed in the least this time! Vicki had taken up my challenge to create an ATC depicting the place she lives, and I absolutely love the Minnesota she created! The only thing that I can see missing are those big honkin' mosquitos! 'Course, I might visit Minnesota more during the summertime if I thought there'd be no mosquitos to eat me alive! Beatuiful place, Minnesota, but insanely cold in the winter. Brrr!

But to be totally fair, the ATC was examined last, for the first thing that fell out of the package made me cry out and then tear up with joy. I AM a dragon, after all, so any jewelry proferred is ALWAYS greeted with a firey roar. But jewelry with a raven engraved? Could I be any happier? Not right this second, I couldn't. Know what else? Not a single bill was in the mailbox with all that treasure! What a great day, with a plethora of beauty and good juju...truly an embarrassment of riches from my Tribe.