Gifties

We've received many thoughtful, lovely, and useful wedding gifts. Recent brides had warned me about the weird presents that would inevitably arrive, but, even as I laughed at their tales of a knife decorated with a naked woman or a serving platter depicting a pregnant bride, I never thought it would happen to me.

A post office slip appeared in our mailbox recently. A gift had arrived from G's grandparents; he went to retrieve it. What we found was slightly odd. A decorative wooden box painted with a giant white flower opened to reveal, beneath purple tissue paper and enfolded within bubble wrap, a small ceramic vase with blue glaze, a small ceramic bird with darker blue glaze, and another random ceramic thing (not sure what it is) with earthy-color glaze. They were very heavy, squat, and earthy--the kind of pottery that people created in adult ed classes in the 60s. Tchotchkes! Looking at the bottoms, I tried to decipher some sort of family sentiment--had one of my new in-laws made these once upon a time?--but G did not recognize the inititals. It would seem that, indeed, G's gradparents had gone doodad shopping for us. Words don't describe how very strange the ceramic bird is. Its giant beak sits open at the top, like a chick wanting to feed; its eyes bulge; it is ringed with clunky ceramic ruffles. I'll try to post a photo sometime.

Also floating in the box was a check, which was, indeed, kind of them, but its apparent afterthoughtness added to the oddness of the gift.

Don't misunderstand! I am grateful for the gift, and the indecipherable thought behind it, which I'm sure is warm; but I remain puzzled and delightedly amused.

Update: Upon further examination, I suspect that the grandparents in question had extra knickknacks sitting on their own shelves, which they decided to pack up and send to us.
Update 2: Trying to find a comparable ceramic bird online to hold you over, I discovered, though the magic of Google Images, that we seem to have a pie bird on our hands. It would seem I should bake the terrifyingly ugly little fellow into a pie to allow steam to escape. This makes more sense now. I suppose.