HAPPY HOLIDAYS Have you gotten into the Ho Ho Ho yet? No! No!! No??? “Get on with it!!” as Rosemary Verey said to me in 1996 when I was trying to get my picture taken beside her in her beautiful garden at Barnsley House in the Cotswolds of England. The task had taken longer than she thought necessary, and when the words came out of her mouth I thought in my southern mind . . . how rude!!! But I had grabbed her in an adoring tourist sort of way most likely taking her away from some desperate weeding she had in mind before she had to finish the next book she was writing not to mention the speech she would be giving at Oxford or the Chelsea Flower Show. Probably not. But can you imagine your garden being trampled by tourists on a daily basis and all you want to do is walk in your garden undisturbed? Yes, the British would have just walked by her and said, “How d'you do” while tipping their woolen hats and brandishing the ever-present plaid umbrella. But, us rowdy Americans just have to get in your face, wrap an arm around you and tell you to smile for a camera. Now that's rude and I can see Mrs. Verey's point. Touche.

Maybe this Christmas you can shed some cheer. You have a few days left. Bring your camera to the Mall, stand next to complete strangers, wrap your arm around their waists and tell them to shout “Kris Kringle” as you hold your tiny camera as far in front of you as your bones will allow. CLICK. Selfie taken and “there you have it” . . . another British term that comes in handy from time to time when finishing an elaborate story. So “get on with it” with a Hohoho and a Heeheehee realizing you may have made someone's day or at least made them wake up and smell the peppermint candy canes. My choice to keep my Christmas cheer in full gear? Coca colas and chocolate which inevitably will lay me  down with a bang on the couch with the cat on my chest for a long winter's nap. It could work for you too and hopefully, you will wake up to fresh, falling snow out your window after dreaming about a White Christmas where treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow. Where's Bing when you need him? And by the way, a sleigh pulled by some big, jingle-belled horses wouldn't hurt the mood, right? So take your frown, turn it upside down and you'll find your laughing place. Ho Ho Ho.

“Get on with it!”

 © nancy 2009