Carpe Diem

A sculpture of two turtles, nose to nose.

When you pull them apart, they vibrate back together again. I think it's a metaphor.
(Image credit: author's own)

Seize the day

Little things make a difference. You know how you sometimes have something lying around that's missing one of its parts? Like a dress that came with a belt, and now you have one or the other, but not both, and it's still good, and you'd totally wear it if you could find the right belt or dress to go with it, so it just... stays there?

I have belts for dresses and jackets that I no longer own. I have dresses and sweaters that have belt loops but are missing their belts. And, over fifteen years ago, I got three little packets of candles.

Chris (way back before he was Fis) has always travelled frequently and extensively. Every second weekend, and at least a week out of every month, he was gone. It was fine: I had my hobbies and activities, he had... ok, he had work, but still.

Use those soaps; burn those candles

Right, about those candles. On one trip, he brought home some trinkety-type things from Germany. Two turtles on a drawstring that kiss. Some beautiful candles — many, many beautiful candles, in fact. Floating candles, decorative tapers, multi-coloured tea lights... you know, the kind of candles that are all just too pretty to burn. Also, in that landslide of gifts (this was obviously before we were married), were the three little packets of tiny, brightly-coloured candles, a little more than a centimetre in diameter, and a little, heart-shaped holder.

Five multicoloured candles on a wooden surface.

See? Too pretty to burn! (Image credit: author's own)

I think I finally burned one of them about two years later. And then, somehow, I lost the holder.

Those gorgeous decorative candles — all of them except that one — have travelled to Medicine Hat, to Ottawa, and now to London, and I've just recently started burning them. Why not? They're beautiful. I've recently started to think about how we have 'saved' so many really nice consumables because they were too special to use... and then they were wasted. They went bad, or the moving company wouldn't take them, or, in the case of that fabulous truffle oil, it was used only once, then left in a fridge by mistake when we moved. Either way, I've started burning my candles.

Except these little ones, I just couldn't; they don't fit in any of my holders.

Treat yourself

I pondered this out loud. "They're so pretty, but I don't have any way to use them," I said, within Fis' earshot.

He looked at me, and didn't reply.

"This is a serious problem," I said. "May I solve it?"

He nodded. "You may."

Fun fact: the only candle holder on the entire internet that fits these candles was £12.50. Not bad. But then, it was almost £6 for shipping, so, with a sensible ROI mindset, I added two more little packets of the hithertofore unburnable candles.

Problem solved.