Lovely Little Things

I am going through random boxes on my bookshelf this morning and was reminded of Brian's sweetness and how much I miss that.

Like most men, Mr Needles was utterly uninterested in my handcrafts.  Yarn?  Wool?  He really did not care.  At the same time, he was observant and curious.  He liked Macgyvering things when he had to but he often found that what he needed was already on the market, often in the garage, and just needed to be looked at from a different viewpoint to make it be exactly what he was looking for.

Occasionally, I complained talked about how I wished for a really good light to work by in the evenings, a solution with a strong light that wasn't intrusive, while he watched TV.  We tried several different kinds of things to try to resolve it over the years.  Most of these are long gone now but today I came across one of his most innovative ideas.

Preparing for hunting in the fall was always the highlight of his shopping season.  Christmas shopping is for mere mortals but ah...shopping for hunting and fishing?  That was worth some time and effort.  There was always great stuff to be found.  

One fall, he came home with a little headlamp.  He wanted it because sometimes, a hunter ended up needing to field dress an animal in less than great light.  It had a camouflage headband that was soft and stretchy.  I was looking at it because it was kind of neat.  It had three lights and was incredibly bright.  He said, you can keep it to try in front of the tv.  He had gotten one for me as well as one for himself.  Which was so sweet of him.

It was a bright strong direct light that was focused right at my hands as I worked.  It did not work well for TV watching though, because every time I looked up, the light was glaring off the TV, or right in his face if I glanced at him.  After blinding him a couple times the first evening, I did not use it there at all but I did use it for camping.  Somewhere along the way, I stopped using it because those three little very bright lights sucked up batteries like nobody's business.    

This morning, tucked into a box of things, I came across the headband.  I saw the light around here a while ago, in a box with assorted things.  I will find it and put the two together again, but I won't be using it any time soon. (Batteries.)  It's really just a memento of the sweet little things he used to think of and do.  

One of a host of lovely little memories that fill the corners of my heart.