Pay Back

One of the great things about putting in all those sleepless nights trying to get babies back to sleep and then worrying about them as teenagers is that after they are all grown up they sometimes give you great gifts.  About a week ago I got a birthday present in the mail from my oldest daughter, Emily, and her husband.  Now my birthday is in the middle of March, but, since I did give my youngest her quilted graduation present until four years after the event, I won't quibble about timeliness.

Inside the box was a strange yellow contraption that when I unfolded the goose-type neck took on the aspects of a lamp with no cord.  Instead a removable solar panel was embedded in the base.

With the push of a button I get a great focussed light that I can put anywhere and that I can take with me anywhere.  What an incredibly clever and useful gift!  So far I have not had to recharge the solar battery, and Emily tells me she gets over eight hours of light on a charge, which means I take the little solar panel out and put it in a sunny window for a few hours.

Unfortunately, this light comes from Ikea--and we live inconveniently far from any Ikea store up here in the hills of northcentral Pennsylvania.  It's called a Sunnan, which may be Swedish for "lamp" for all I know.  I have already used this Sunnan several times, plopping it down on the table next to me when I needed a more concentrated light for a while and it folds down absolutely flat so it is eminently portable.

Thanks, Emily and Jim!