Thom and I had a fun time at Sheldon and Gretchyn’s house this past weekend. There was a Christmas party on Saturday evening, and as it’s a three-or-so-hour drive out there, we stayed the night, as we usually do. Earlier this year the two of them had gone on vacation to France and Italy and brought back for us a bottle of olive oil and a large bar of chocolate. Mmm! Also for Christmas presents they bought the LEGO Star Wars video game for Thom, and two books–Don’t Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff (found on my Amazon.com wishlist), and The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman–for me, all of which were so perfect! As always our stay with Sheldon and Gretchyn was great times and great food.
By the way, speaking of presents, every year around this time I look forward to PNC’s Christmas Price Index, “the tongue-in-cheek economic analysis based on the cost of goods and services gifted in the holiday classic, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.'” Two of the culprits making it more difficult to get all those gifts this year: avian flu and rising energy prices.
The results of this year’s survey indicate that the biggest hurdle for True Loves will be obtaining imported birds. The threat of avian flu has restricted the international shipment of birds, thus preventing the purchase of three French hens from France. However, there are domestic breeders of French hens, as well as the other feathered friends mentioned in the song.
Since the large birds are bought from national suppliers, total costs are higher due to the shipping and related hikes in fuel prices. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens reports the cost of geese almost doubled this year while the cost of swans increased by 20 percent. On the other hand, the cost of turtledoves and calling birds have not been hard hit by rising fuel costs because these smaller birds are generally available from local retailers.
Hee. More details are in the press release.