Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The Unexpected Gift

[inspired by the writers island prompt "The Gift"]


The Unexpected Gift

I am quite a hard person to buy for.

There's not much I think is "to die for."

I'm stubborn and picky,

My wish list is tricky,

so my wife practices caveat emptor.


One year she went shopping on E-Bay
to find me a gift that was okay.

By hooks or by crooks

she found Danny Dunn books

and the full set just blew me away.






[I loved Danny Dunn books when I was a kid - full of science complete with an absent-minded professor, set in what could have been the midwest, with a girl who was as smart as the boys. Even a kid who was a poet! My wife rounded up copies of each book in the set and presented them to me all at once. I had NO IDEA and it was a wonderful surprise.]



20 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Oh, those are great limericks!

And I have to confess, I never read those books as a kid. Think I should find them and read them to my own little trouble-makers?

Thanks for stopping by West of Mars -- yes, please come back more often!

Jo said...

I'm chortling here. Great fun!

gautami tripathy said...

Never ever read any limerick series befre this!

I like!

Robin said...

Now that put a big old grin on my face.

sister AE said...

Hello, all!

Hi, Susan. The books are out of print, which made the surprise even bigger. IMHO I think they should be re-issued.

Thanks, Jo.

Gautami - This isn't the first time I've written long poems as stanzas of limericks. Back in 1997 I wrote some as "good-bye gifts" to people I worked with, full of inside jokes and such. One had 11 stanzas!

Thanks, Robin.

paris parfait said...

What a great limerick and a great gift! Usually I don't like limericks, but yours is terrific.

Tumblewords: said...

A wonderful gift and terrific words! What fun!

sister AE said...

paris parfait & tumblewords - thank you both.

Star said...

Sounds like she knows you well. My hubby is tough to buy for too.Michele sent me.

sister AE said...

Hello, Star. Yes, she does, but sometimes that doesn't help much.

Lea said...

This was so fun!!! Thank you for the gift of your humor as well as a gift from the heart!

Sassy Sundry said...

I should have stopped here before going out birthday shopping for my best friend. She's a professor, and she would have loved a Homework (grader) Machine.

Gill said...

Quirky and fun! A neat take on the prompt. Yours has been quite original.
xo
Blue

sister AE said...

Hi, Sassy. I can think of a few things I'd like a machine to do (automatically) at work, too, now that I think about it.

Hello, Blue. Thanks.

sister AE said...

Hi, Lea - almost missed your comment -- which is terrible since I adore every one! You are welcome to visit any time.

Tinker said...

Ha! Rhyming 'to die for' and 'caveat emptor, especially tickled my funny bone. Well done!

sister AE said...

Hi, Tinker - Hah! thanks. I had to look up caveat emptor to make sure it really meant what I thought it did - just in case.

Clare said...

Fun rhymes and an awesome gift!! This was very cool.
:)

Annie Jeffries said...

Totally CUTE. Clearly the gift of humor is also very present in your marriage too.

sister AE said...

Welcome back, Clare, and thank you.

Thanks to you, too, AnnieElf. You are correct.