Der Bingle has said over the decades that I have always been a little ahead of trends – even to the point of adding the suffix “oid” to unlikely nouns before the first factoid appeared. Well, I have always like nutcrackers, scarfing them up at GoodWill and Rummage Sales for bargain prices. Glenda, my first cousin, who doesn’t have a AmeliaJake-type code name – but may want one – also is a nutcracker aficionado.

Now, i see nutcrackers in Crate & Barrel catalogues and on store shelves – all sorts of fancy ones. I’m sticking with my original guys, some of whom have names, and I’ll let the dilettantes spend big bucks and maybe in a couple of years, I’ll scoop some up from GoodWill shelves when the trendy folks spotlight something else. Those will probably have some scuff marks and maybe a missing arm or whatever; they will fit right in. It ain’t really class unless it’s got a nick or a chip or a dent from the fall from a mantle.