Gifts

Collectors are so easy for special occasions. If you need a gift for a person who collects something, you already know what to look for. And if you wind up with something he already has, no matter. He’ll either expand his collection or use the duplicate as a gift for someone else. Ah, and there’s the other big advantage. As a collector, you have a stash of wonderful things to draw from for gifts to deserving people.  I see many fabulous things pass through our shop on their way to other collections. They are “mine” for just a little while. But last winter, one came in that I loved so much I had to purchase it for myself: Ray Tsalate’s big coral-encrusted bullfrog. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one who loved him. A dear friend who collects neither fetish carvings nor frogs was so enamored that he kept the card with Jeremiah’s photo next to his bed. My friend’s birthday was last month, and I gave the great bullfrog to him. Because, let’s face it, a friend is worth more than even the greatest fetish carving. So, now it is my birthday week. And Ray brought in another frog--a smaller, multi-colored baby creature, with those same looking-up-at-you eyes. Not quite as magnificent as the bullfrog, but still with plenty of attitude. This one is my birthday gift to me.