Over the years we’ve amassed a large collection of Hash House Harrier event giveaways. We used to have boxes full of hashing t-shirts, but now we’re just hanging on to a few old favorites Donna wants to make into a quilt. We took the others to local hash meets and gave them to new hashers so that they could look like world travelers … and who knows, maybe the shirts will inspire them to start taking hash road trips.
Ditto hats. We kept a few but gave the rest away. And then there are the mugs. Specifically the mugs we keep in the kitchen cupboard along with our regular glasses, tumblers, and coffee mugs, the ones we use when it’s just us. The plastic ones we don’t worry about dropping because they won’t break. The ones covered with hash event logos.
Some of these have become favorites. The two in the thumbnail photo, for example. They’re for beer, but since I quit drinking I use them for juice and iced tea, especially the insulated La Jolla H3 cup on the right. I’ve often wished I had two so that I could use one while the other is in the dishwasher. That’s how much I love it.
Yesterday Donna announced her intention to throw the hash mugs away and replace them with “nice glasses.” For a moment there, I stared into the Abyss. Normally when I look at Donna I see my beloved mate of 47 years. This time I saw the uncanny valley separating us. I still shiver when I think about it.
And this from the woman who won’t let me toss her original MS-DOS manual from 1989 or the 5 1/4″ floppies for WordStar 1.0. The woman who routinely sneaks out with a flashlight on garbage day eve to check the bins for things I wasn’t supposed to throw away. The woman who has taken over *my* garage, filling it to the rafters with plastic tubs of clothing, shoes, used wrapping paper, and broken pool toys that will no longer fit inside our 2,400 square foot house, the one just two people live in.
All of which is to say I love her, even when she’s in Stepford mode.