How the idea came to me

The aha! moment!

Last year I got for myself this Christmas smoker. I got it because it was on clearance at Marshall's due to some of the gingerbread pieces being unglued. (Super simple fix!) I also frequently host a gingerbread decorating party, so it was a way to tie in the party with holiday decorations. Talk about a messy, time consuming and stressful event to plan - but so much fun!

Turns out I love this smoker. I didn't know if I would. I'm not really into incense, but these smokers are delightful as they also pick up a hint of the smell of wood they are made from too. I don't have a working fireplace, but this smoker  makes me feel warm and cozy as if we do.


But, it's truly a Christmas smoker. I wondered if there were another one that might be able to be lit for the rest of the late fall and winter. So, I started to do a search on Etsy and Ebay. (I do try to buy used - always). I stumbled upon this one.

I thought about it and decided it would be sweet (though I haven't purchased it). First, it's obviously not Christmas, but secondly, it tied to my family's history. My paternal grandmother played accordion. I never really witnessed it except for once, I think, when she had her whole set up with electronics and everything set up in her living room when we were visiting. She wrote a lot of her own music, played all over the region (Iowa) and gave lessons to children. My father hated it. He would grumble if anything was even mentioned about the accordion, but I was always fascinated.

And then... a little light bulb went off... I could play the accordion! That is an orchestra all wrapped up in one. I started googling and my eyes started to widen at the prospect. Maybe this was it! Music - of course!!! and why not the accordion? It's so oddball, it's cool in just being that! And if you know me - uniqueness is kind of me.

As an aside - why are all the accordion smokers I found, men? I suppose you can say the ones with pipes are more likely to be men as women don't usually smoke pipes? But the top left one doesn't have a pipe (and he's the one I'm most likely to get next year. His mouth perhaps is "smoking" because maybe he's cold and playing outside and it's supposed to be the illusion of visible breathe in the cold instead of smoke?