Merry Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago, our vet called to tell me that we had won a drawing for a new vacuum cleaner.

"What kind?" I asked.

"A Dyson," she replied.

Shut the front door. I should tell you here that I have a weird, intellectual/industrial crush on the Dyson guy. Well, maybe I shouldn't have told you that after all, but I do. I have coveted and desired a Dyson vacuum cleaner for years. But they retail for more than $400 at Target. Target!

It arrived yesterday. It's the kind with the ball. I regarded the package for a few minutes, planning my approach. I knew that a vacuum cleaner this cool would be packed in an equally cool fashion.

I was right. As we have discussed before, I also have a strange thing for industrial design, all the way down to packaging. Someone--a team of someones--spent a lot of time determining how best to package their wares, and I believe we as consumers should honor that process by opening packages carefully and correctly.

I followed the directions to open the box, preserving every corner as I went. And because I followed the directions, it came apart willingly. Inside I found a miracle of cardboard engineering. Each folded section a work of art. I showed Aislinn. She was moderately impressed but didn't really get it.

Today, I talked to my brother. I told him about the vacuum. Then I said, "You should have seen how it was packaged."

He said, "Oh, yeah. I can just imagine."

It's so nice to be understood.

The vacuum itself? It's amazing. But the packaging was the best part.