Farmer Gary loves to read the newspaper. Always has.

In fact, he’s declared Wednesday to be Newspaper Day each week, as that’s the day most of the weekly papers arrive in the mail.

Each Wednesday, Gary dashes out to check the mailbox, then takes over our breakfast bar with his stack and works his way through the periodicals.

Sadly, many of the dailies and almost-dailies he grew up reading are no longer … well, appealing.

… but there are still a couple of solid weeklies published by a local family, so our mailbox doesn’t stand empty. Gary also subscribes to ag papers (from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Oregon) and magazines to help him keep on top of farming issues.

So it was irresistible when I came across this artwork online last fall:

Titled Die Bauern und die Zeitung (The Farmers and the Newspaper), this oil painting was created in 1867 by Albrecht Anker, known as Switzerland’s “national painter.”

I ordered Gary a beautiful reproduction and didn’t even wait until Christmas to give it to him.

On Christmas, though, there were other gifts to celebrate our family’s love of art.

Let’s start with Aubrie. Our daughter-in-law is wonderfully artistic. The home she shares with John and Cameron is filled with her colorful creations. So when she asked for gift ideas a few months ago, I was ready: We’d love a piece of your artwork.

That was it. I didn’t offer any ideas, just planted the idea that we’ll always have wall space for her art.

We absolutely love this!

Grandson Cameron has called me “Goose” ever since he started talking, so a painting of Goose with her Gander in their library is just perfect! Gary hung it up in the sunroom, by the door leading to the deck. The “Goose Dr.” metal sign finished it off just right. Thanks, Aubrie, John, and Cam!

Speaking of Cam, he influenced my Christmas shopping a year ago.

Gary loves to tell the story about going for a drive with our grandson back when the lad was just four or so. Suddenly a little finger pointed out the window:

Gary: That’s right, Cameron! Look up ahead – that’s a buzzard!
Cam: Eagle!
Gary: Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s a buzzard, little guy. Look at the coloring. An eagle has a white head and yellow feet. That bird is all black. It’s a buzzard.
Cam: Eagle!
Gary: Well, hold on a minute … see how the bird is flying now? Eagles flap their wings continually, while a buzzard glides a lot. That’s a buzzard.
Cam: Eagle!
Gary: I guess you’re right. It’s an eagle.

That’s a story Papaw will tell for the rest of his days. To commemorate the lively exchange, I ordered him a whirlybird – a wing-flapping eagle, of course.

Here it is in action, along with a few Jeffersonian weather gadgets that give the new part of our deck a quirky, not quite yard-art look.

To round out our family gathering, James received two newly framed pastels his great-grandfather created long before our youngest was born. (In fact, James and my Grandpa Vayo were born almost exactly a century apart. One hundred years and 30 days apart, to be precise.)

Although I’m not artistic (blame it on being a southpaw) – and frankly am not a newspaper fan (unless it’s online) – I truly appreciate those talents and interests in others. (Well … all accept when a certain farmer lets the newspaper/magazine stack pile high enough to threaten an avalanche of epic proportions.)

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