One of my cycling friends happened to casually mention that studded bike tires for winter riding sounded kind of interesting, but he couldn't bring himself to spend the money. Ding, ding, ding, a perfect gift idea.

velvet, curling, fabric and mylar ribbons; raffia; bows, bell, silk leaves; paper, hot glue—dec2020

Especially as cycling has been nearly my only form of aerobic exercise in 2020, and my big day of the week is generally riding with this person, this was a no-brainer. Studded tires are heavy, and my spouse, with some justification, accused me of wanting to slow my companion down so's I could keep up:)

here's a moodier shot under the tree. Both taken with a oneplus 5T on 27dec20.

This was a fairly big box, possibly 18" on a side, which meant lots of real estate, but also that I didn't really have any paper big enough to entirely cover the box. Fortunately, it's a nice plain one.

As my friend is an avid hiker, I particularly wanted to use the pine themed paper, for several reasons:

1. It would remind him of the Colorado mountains: Evergreens are not only associated with Christmas, but also, of course, mountains, because they grow at higher altitudes than deciduous trees.
2. It reminded me of the time the wizard and I got lost back-country skiing in the mountains around Lake Tahoe, during a holiday family get-together, which was all christmas card perfect evergreens buried in snow^[1]
3. Plus, I thought he would like the relatively stark, graphic quality of the design

Which, of course, my gift decorating is not, but hey. We tested the new tires out on New Year's, and though the roads weren't exactly icy, we did have stinging sleet, which sounds dreadful, but actually we enjoyed our “First Ride of the Year” a good deal.

Here's hoping there're be plenty more.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.