I’m sitting at the gate in the Piedmont Triad Airport (Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem). It’s a delight to fly out of this airport. It’s got everything necessary, yet is quiet, friendly, and overall the opposite of frantic. My route will replicate one I would have taken almost exactly a year ago . . . had I not tested positive for COVID the night before!

How glad I had been to be getting back to work—this Holiday Market tour for Smithsonian Journeys was the only one of my tours not cancelled in 2022. But oh, that test flipped the plan. My disappointment was even greater because I was to be accompanied by a dear young friend (then a high-school senior).

First, I informed the Smithsonian, and learned that my colleague, already on the first leg of the tour, could cover my dates (phew). This is a courtesy many of us have been able to take advantage of and extend.

So, that part was okay. Now the hard part came. I gritted my teeth and dialed my friend’s number. She had paid every dime of the tour through her own part time work. This was going to be a serious blow.

Never will I forget how graciously she took the news, even making a joke about how she would, at least, be able to look at the purple floral luggage she had acquired for the trip. Immediately we talked about rescheduling our adventure for a summer 2023 Rhine tour—a longer route with fine sites along the way. That tour, I’m happy to report, took place in July. In retrospect, it was an even grander choice for her.

Now a year has passed since that December disappointment. I am about to board for Frankfurt, although Group 7 isn’t getting on for a long while. On this sunny warm North Carolina afternoon, I’m clad in sweaters and scarves, with a full-length down coat crammed next to me. It will be cold in Interlaken where the tour starts Saturday night. Whatever did not get accomplished at home will just have to wait. I have two good books in my bag, and two peanut-butter sandwiches in my pockets (squashed peanut-butter sandwiches are just the best!).

With all this, though, I find myself thinking about you. Please know that, especially this fall, your emails and comments have been particularly touching. So many of us have shared time together over the years in courses and webinars. Others of us have just met. Still others of us will be together in early spring when conferences begin. I shake my head in wonder. It is an unfathomable blessing for me that you and I are connected through this amazing medium of electronic communication!

So let me, in words, right now, proclaim my gratitude to you for all that you do and the joy you bring to so many. I salute your joy for learning, your inspiring diligence and sincerity, and your appreciation of the beauty of the arts.

I will be reporting to you from Germany in a special live session on the traditions of those Christmas markets. I hope you can join me live, although those session will also be recorded for viewing at your convenience.