23 December 1999

8:30 EST in Maho Bay on Christmas Eve Eve and the 4 of us are sitting in the cockpit, way past our bedtimes, searching for the thread of the Christmas spirit. We have a 3' plastic tree with a smattering of presents under it and a festive wreath with a red bow on the center of the wheel. But having not been assaulted by a newspaper, magazine, radio or TV show in a couple of months, it is hard to manufacture the mood. I had a real Christmas moment once, at about 15 years old, when I walked out of a midnight church service with my Mom and it was snowing. I was old enough to know the difference between Santa and Jesus so there were no worries about getting home in a hurry and we were able to drink in the moment. That's what we are looking for tonight while we sit around under a really big moon talking about all the people that we know and care about.

When the Neri family assembles each year to observe the holidays, I usually try to resurrect an old game of naming the 5 most impressive people in known history. It is a somewhat disfunctional way of honoring Jesus on his designated day, because he invariably makes the list and we honor him by association. This year's selections from the Calvin Neris are as follows:

Dan:

Karen:

I could editorialize about all of these picks, which is the fun part, but Matt told me to shut up. The important thing is that we are hanging out in a peaceful and beautiful spot and we have the time to talk about things that matter, and we are all happy. Matt is happy because we are anchored in turquoise water. Karen is happy because we are in her Caribbean and together. Danie is just a very happy person. Dan is happy that everyone else is happy. And we all hope that you have the same level of happiness on the day that the whole planet stops.

Happy Holidays, The Calvin Neris