Ho Ho Hop

This is an insane time of year, so in case I get too caught up in the mayhem and don't find time to do this when I should, Happy Christmas / Hannukah / Jedi Holiday or Excuse for a Lie-In to everyone.

I pinched this photo from a pack of Hallmark cards, the proceeds of which go towards breast cancer research (well at least I bought the cards!). I rather like it - it could have been taken on any one of hundreds of roads I've driven along on country trips over the years. It looks very hot.

So, while you're all huddling under blankets and chucking snowballs at each other, I'll be listening to the cicadas and slapping on the sunscreen, wondering yet again why I don't do a cold buffet on Christmas day rather than the traditional roasts and hot, flamed plum pudding. I am however a happy slave to the habits of my youth; I did briefly toy with the crazy idea of replacing turkey with kangaroo, but the moment passed.

Big love.

Update

Thanks All for your lovely comments on my last post. I'll go back there and respond to them properly soon.

We had an email from Em yesterday - the following is a taste of why I miss her so much:

She is writing "in the dodgyest internet cafe in the whole world, not just Uttaranchal", which apparently smells of pee and is run by a guy in a cheap suit and with slicked back hair. She says "this is hard, not because I miss you, or cos I can't think of what to write, but because the keyboard only has half the letters".

She says she is thrilled to bits with India, and has seen "so much that is "radtastic, unusual and unreal", and speaks of "the enormity of everything that's happened", none of which apparently we would believe without the benefit of visual aids (which she is arranging).

Then there's a short break for an announcement:
"****proprietor is smoking up the ganga in the phone booth. Not uncommon here****"

As for any lurking extremists: "btw - I'm not dead. My people will call your people if we get whisked into any international terrorist shenanigans ...."

She's obviously been hoeing into the local cuisine; so much so that I have been banned from cooking anything with curry, paprika, masala or pepper for the next three months at least. ("I could so go a lamb casserole right now"). And apparently she has just realised that I have a special smell that she misses. What is that I wonder? Possibly a strange cocktail of sauteed onions, fruit cake, anti-ageing moisturiser, Balenciaga's Le Dix, tea and claret. ("mmm smell mummy-ish. lol giggle!"). I shall get her to analyse it properly when she comes home. Funny how smell seems to be the most evocative of the senses. Perhaps she passed a street stall where someone was frying garlic and it reminded her of me in the kitchen. Or maybe I just pong.

There's more of course; all the lovely personal stuff and special comments for each of us. I think I've read the email fourteen or fifteen times already.

Two weeks down, two weeks to go ...

Out in Indiyah

Emma's in India. I hope she is having the time of her life.

Happily, she got through Bangkok 24 hours before the airports closed (they are only now re-opening), and even more happily, she was nowhere near Mumbai when those terrible attacks occurred.

She is with tigers, mountains, temples and jungles in Northern India, trekking so high (over 4000m) that she will need to take altitude sickness prevention tablets. In a week or so she will move down near Jaipur with her group to work on renovations and improvements to a local children's school.
Above:Saying goodbye to Sadie
Below: At school on departure day
The world is a big place, and having an opportunity like this to see a part of it so vastly removed from her own is brilliant. She has been preparing for this for 18 months, and has worked hard to pay for the trip herself; this is part of the World Challenge deal. You fund your adventure and you own it.

She's with good friends, an inspiring trek leader and two wonderful teachers from her school. The latter three are there to keep them safe - the group of 16/17 year-olds makes the decisions, does the budgeting, and has planned the itinerary, with the leader simply as facilitator.

I miss Em dreadfully, but wouldn't wish her back from such an experience until she's soaked up every moment of it.