I don't see why the Queen should have exclusive rights to the Christmas Message business. Do you?
Well it has been quite a year, 2016, I must say. What a funny old world this is. And not always in a good way.
For me, it has been a time to expand my horizons, and I want to tell you about a couple of the people I met on my big tour of Europe back in October.
It was late in the evening at the ferry terminal in Harwich when we came upon a bus-load of British Asians heading off for a weekend in Holland. A elderly, sari-clad lady tottered across to us, accompanied by her daughter. While the older lady made a big fuss of me, daughter acted as translator, telling us how her mother had owned a wire-haired fox terrier when she was a wee girl, and how seeing me would probably be the highlight of her trip.
Then there was the nice-looking young Argentinian in the hotel lobby in Amsterdam, who ran over the minute he spotted me and, struggling to hold back tears of emotion, explained how much he was missing Lupe, his beloved WFT, whom he'd left behind in Buenos Aires.
So you know what? It seems to me that humans all over the world, whatever their backgrounds, must have lots of things in common, if only they would take time to talk to each other with goodwill, and kindness in their hearts.
With that, I wish all my friends in every corner of the globe a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.
