Michael Wright: The hunt for Christmas magic

Crunch time is coming for my least favorite hunting season of the year: Christmas shopping.

Less than two weeks remain for me to find gifts for my wife, and I’ve spent exactly zero time shopping. I’ve waited longer in the past, but it’s time to get after it.

So in the coming days, instead of following my dog through the Palouse in search of pheasants, I’ll be wandering an area mall in search of divine inspiration.

I have a couple of OK ideas that I can’t mention here – it’s always possible that one of Rachel’s gifts to me will be reading the newspaper – but neither option is enough on its own. It’s time to think bigger.

Shopping for other people always seems harder than shopping for yourself. On any given day of the year, I can name three or four pieces of outdoor gear that I want. There’s the dream stuff that nobody’s going to buy me – like a drift boat – and then there’s the more practical and cheaper stuff – say, a new backpack or a few pairs of wool socks.

Plus, if all other ideas have been exhausted, it’s a safe bet that Rachel could walk into a fly shop, explain her predicament and shortly thereafter walk out with something suitable.

She likes fishing, but not enough for me to have the same luxury.

Outdoor gear has been a reliable option in the past. That said, it doesn’t seem like a trip to REI is going to bail me out this time. Her ski gear seems adequate. Her sleeping pad and sleeping bag are in decent shape. A water bottle wouldn’t be a bad idea, but it’s not the answer. She also probably doesn’t need another hat.

Beyond the outdoor gear realm, at least for me, mistakes are easy to make. I have made more than a few that anyone could learn from. For example: Do not purchase an electric iced tea maker unless someone in your household needs a pitcher for watering plants.

There’s no rubric by which all gifts can be measured, but there are guidelines. Gifts should be surprising, but not the wrong kind of surprising. They should be practical, but more interesting than a new spatula. There’s no magic dollar figure to hit, but it’s always obvious when you spend too little.

For years, my mother gave my siblings and me calendars every Christmas. Extremely practical, particularly right before the new year, and always doubling as a half-decent piece of wall art.

Wait … have I just found the answer?