i believe in father christmas - redux

Here's a throwback post from 2011, which still has meaning for me, especially today ...

My almost eight year-old has been asking me all month long about Santa. She was bugged that some of the kids at school were trying to convince her that he doesn't exist. A lot of her friends still believe, but she has asked me if I do, too. I answered unhesitatingly in the affirmative. And I'm not lying. That doesn't mean that I believe that a jolly man in a red suit will be coming down our non-existent chimney tonight. But I do believe that Santa, something magical, does exist in the world, most definitely in my daughter's world. When kids grow up and become parents they become Santa. They make magic for their kids. They pass the baton, so that their children can share in that same feeling that they remember from their childhood — a mixture of hope, anticipation, faith and disbelief — could it really be? And then the presents are there in the morning — magic!

I don't blame the playground kids. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs or disbeliefs. I first covered this topic two Xmas eves ago and still feel exactly the same way:

The whole world is magical to kids. They want to believe in Santa, Rudolph, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc. Kids don't live in a bubble. At five my daughter and her friends are already deeply discussing whether Santa, etc. exists. Some are trying to convince her otherwise, like kids tried back in 1897 to Virginia O'Hanlon. I'm in the "He's real" camp until she shows signs of not wanting to believe anymore. Kids can be cruel and just plain silly, but the "There is no Santa" schoolyard discussions seem to me less an attempt to blow a hole in the magic bubble, but an attempt to appear smarter, more knowledgeable of the oh-so-attractive grown-up world. Kids, if you only had the merest glimpse of the mundanity of many aspects of what it is to be "grown-up," you'd relax and settle back and bask in fantasies like Santa as long as possible.

I also think it is worth reprinting some words of Santa wisdom from one of my favorite authors, Alexander McCall Smith (originally printed in Parade):

Myths help us to get by. The day they all die and we tell our children exactly how things are, the world will be a poorer, less enchanted place. So don’t be ashamed to clap your hands at Peter Pan or act as if Santa exists. He stands for kindness and generosity, and those things are alive and will continue to be alive—as long as we believe in them.

I have some cookies to decorate for Santa — Merry Christmas!

the saturday big tent wedding party

Article first published as Book Review: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith on Blogcritics.

Precious Ramotswe is back, in the new paperback edition in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by author Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party.

Mma Ramotswe has a new and difficult client who she must try to help, but the real focus of the book, as with others in the series, is the gentle reminder to enjoy the beauty in life; and that many of life's problems, big and small, can eventually be solved with a little gentle tact and caring.

A nervous and not very likable farmer, Mr. Botsalo Moeti, has come to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency for help in determining just who is behind some attacks on his cattle. As Mma Ramotswe tries to sort out the problem, and just how much she owes a client who may, in his own way, be in the wrong, there are also other complications closer to home.

She has been very much missing her beloved little white van and is unnerved by its possible, ghostly, reappearance.

One of the apprentices at Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's garage, Charlie, also has a very big (and very little) problem that involves his imprudent girlfriend Prudence.

Plans for the wedding of assistant detective Mma Makutsi and her fiance Phuti Radiphuti are in full swing, but Mma Makutsi has some doubts that Phuti is taking care of his side of the planning. She is also having a difficult "conversation" with brand new pair of beautiful white wedding shoes. An added distraction — her ultimate nemesis and former classmate from the Botswana Secretarial College, Violet Sephotho, is running for a seat in Botswana's parliament, a fact that appalls Mma Makutsi.

The only disappointment in this entry to the series might be that Mma Ramotswe's and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's two adopted children, Motholeli and Puso, are so relegated to the background of the story that they have almost completely disappeared. It would be nice if Mr. McCall Smith would follow up on his earlier hints that the wheelchair-bound Motholeli, who showed an interest and talent for mechanics, might want to join her father at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and take on a more prominent role.

Mma Ramotswe uses her charm and smarts to resolve most of the novel's issues in her usual gentle and pleasant way, but The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party also has some undercurrents of unrest. As much as Botswana is praised as a wonderful place that still honors the "old values," there are glimpses into the difficult life that people outside of a city like Gaborone face, with the characters of a mother and child who live on a farm and are in thrall to the new owner. McCall Smith wants to look at the bright side of life in most of his writing, but he also wants to remind his readers that there is still much poverty and suffering in Africa.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series continues to delight, and Precious Ramotswe and all of her friends and extended family are still people we want to spend some time with, attending The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, under the broad blue skies of Botswana, sipping red bush tea.

Related articles

• xoxoxoe's #CBR4 Review #11: The Feng Shui Detective Goes West, by Nury Vittachi (cannonballread4.wordpress.com)
• Related Stories: Scots author Alexander McCall Smith on why every reader is important to him (dailyrecord.co.uk)

the feng shui detective goes west

Article first published as Book Review: The Feng Shui Detective Goes West by Nury Vittachi on Blogcritics.

New York based Felony and Mayhem Press has recently released The Feng Shui Detective Goes West by Nury Vittachi. The publishers are dubbing it "The Second Master Wong Mystery," but readers will be happy to learn that the book, originally published in 2008, is actually the fifth entry featuring the popular sleuth.

Author Nury Vittachi

A comic novel, set in a mystery milieu, The Feng Shui Detective Goes West follows feng shui master CF Wong and his much younger female assistant, Australian Joyce McQuinnie, as they try to unravel a modern day locked door mystery set on a luxury airplane, dubbed Skyparc. When Wong isn't in search of a gigantic lunch, or trying to earn some much-needed money, he is able to turn his considerable knowledge of feng shui to solving a murder that may, indirectly, involve the British Royal family, as one of their distant relatives is on board. Wong even finds himself hired to feng shui Buckingham Palace — but he must first travel on Skyparc and unravel its mysteries to get there.

British PR man Robbie Manks tries to explain the job with the Royals to Wong:

"If people were to find out that money was being spent on a feng shui master, they would likely raise an enormous fuss — the headlines would say, 'Despicable Royals use purse for financing nutters' or something. They'd say that even when the Queen uses her own money for something."
"Nutter?"
"A nutter — it's British slang — it just means 'crazy person,' really. The press would assume anyone who believed in feng shui would be mentally deranged, that's all. No insult intended or anything."
"No problem. Many of my clients are Asian businessmen. They also like to keep everything secret."
"Well, this is exactly the same as that."
"Mostly because they are crooks."
"Oh. Well, perhaps not exactly like that, in this case."

Joyce also brings her considerable talents to the table, which includes an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure '70s rock and pop music, and a more working knowledge of modern day slang and behavior. She also happens to have gone to school with the main suspect in the case, which proves helpful.

The crime aspects were interesting and complicated enough to satisfy fans of the genre, but like the gentle mysteries posed and solved by Mma Romatswe in Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, what is most interesting and entertaining in The Feng Shui Detective Goes West are the characters, and author Vittachi's wry East vs. West humor. Vittachi, a journalist who also writes an entertaining blog, has a lot of fun with his titular character. There are laugh-out-loud moments as Wong and McQuinnie react to others around them. There are also interspersed "extracts" from Wong's own Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom that add to the flavor and atmosphere of the story.

The Feng Shui Detective Goes West is very entertaining, and readers will do well to consider and observe like the feng shui detective, as well as seek out his other humorous adventures.

i believe in father christmas

My almost eight year-old has been asking me all month long about Santa. She was bugged that some of the kids at school were trying to convince her that he doesn't exist. A lot of her friends still believe, but she has asked me if I do, too. I answered unhesitatingly in the affirmative. And I'm not lying. That doesn't mean that I believe that a jolly man in a red suit will be coming down our non-existent chimney tonight. But I do believe that Santa, something magical, does exist in the world, most definitely in my daughter's world. When kids grow up and become parents they become Santa. They make magic for their kids. They pass the baton, so that their children can share in that same feeling that they remember from their childhood — a mixture of hope, anticipation, faith and disbelief — could it really be? And then the presents are there in the morning — magic!

I don't blame the playground kids. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs or disbeliefs. I first covered this topic two Xmas eves ago and still feel exactly the same way:

The whole world is magical to kids. They want to believe in Santa, Rudolph, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc. Kids don't live in a bubble. At five my daughter and her friends are already deeply discussing whether Santa, etc. exists. Some are trying to convince her otherwise, like kids tried back in 1897 to Virginia O'Hanlon. I'm in the "He's real" camp until she shows signs of not wanting to believe anymore. Kids can be cruel and just plain silly, but the "There is no Santa" schoolyard discussions seem to me less an attempt to blow a hole in the magic bubble, but an attempt to appear smarter, more knowledgeable of the oh-so-attractive grown-up world. Kids, if you only had the merest glimpse of the mundanity of many aspects of what it is to be "grown-up," you'd relax and settle back and bask in fantasies like Santa as long as possible.

I also think it is worth reprinting some words of Santa wisdom from one of my favorite authors, Alexander McCall Smith (originally printed in Parade):

Myths help us to get by. The day they all die and we tell our children exactly how things are, the world will be a poorer, less enchanted place. So don’t be ashamed to clap your hands at Peter Pan or act as if Santa exists. He stands for kindness and generosity, and those things are alive and will continue to be alive—as long as we believe in them.

I have some cookies to decorate for Santa — Merry Christmas!

death and love in the south of france

Article first published as Book Review: Death at the Chateau Bremont, A Verlaque and Bonnet Mystery, by M. L. Longworth on Blogcritics.

Author M. L. Longworth (M.L. stands for Mary Lou) has lived in Aix-en-Provence, France since 1997 and it shows in her delightful debut mystery, Death at the Chateau Bremont. The book is dubbed "A Verlaque and Bonnet Mystery," and is intended to be the first in a series. The characters and settings of the novel are so enjoyable that readers will be happy to come back to Provence and discover new adventures with chief magistrate Antoine Verlaque, and his ex-girlfirend and law professor, Marine Bonnet.

A young count, Etienne de Bremont, has taken a fatal fall out the attic window of the family's broken-down chateau and Verlaque, as le juge d’instruction, must determine if his death was an accident, suicide, or something else entirely. Verlaque had broken up six months ago with the woman who may be the love of his life, Marine Bonnet, who also happens to be Bremont's childhood friend. The inquiry into Bremont's death may be a convenient way for him to get close to Marine again, as he asks for her help on the case, but will it also be convenient for Marine, who is trying in vain to get over him?

In the course of their investigations the two also turn up possible links to the Corsican and Russian mafias as well as consume some wonderful wines and travel to the Cote d'Azur. The mystery is involving, and all of the people that Verlaque and Bonnet meet along the way are interesting, but the main charms of the book lie in their dance around each other and all the little details of life in southern France. No matter how pressing the case may be, Verlaque always has time for a multi-course lunch and some good wine. He is a connoisseur of not just wine and food, but also fine cigars.

There is a wonderful scene with Verlaque's cigar club that illustrates how the French know how to indulge in such pleasures. Their lives are measured in what they eat and drink and how they talk and joke with each other. There is always time for an espresso, or to meet a friend at the local cafe for a glass of wine in the evening.

As Pierre, one of the cigar club members who isn't independently wealthy, muses as he drinks fine champagne, "He closed his eyes and sipped, as if he was enjoying every bubble, and in fact he was. Bookstores didn't — couldn't — pay well, and being in the cigar club was his sole luxury. He repeatedly told himself that he would happily eat beans and rice all week in order to smoke hand-rolled Cuban cigars once a month with his group of friends." It's all about priorities. Longworth, like author Alexander McCall Smith, is good at writing about the little things that make life worthwhile, that indeed should be the bigger things in life.

Longworth also brings Aix-en-Provence to vivid life. Men and women greet each other, regardless of sex, with the bises, the double-kiss to each cheek. Cafe life is life. Shopping for the latest style, and paying great attention to one's appearance, is also part of the routine. For anyone who has traveled to the south of France Death at the Chateau Bremont will be especially enjoyable, as the reader gets to join Longworth's characters as they stroll the Cours Mirabeau.

Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en_Provence

Aix was not my favorite place to visit when I was in the south of France, so I was as happy as the character of Marine when they escaped the land-locked city, which is loomed over by Cezanne's famed Mont Ste. Victoire, and headed for Cannes and Nice. The author was just as at home there, describing the terrible traffic but wonderful sights, such as villas overlooking the ocean, and landmarks like the Hotels Carlton and Negresco and Old Nice.

Verlaque and Bonnet are both complex personalities, and the course of their true love is not likely to run smoothly, but in Death at the Chateau Bremont and, I'm sure, subsequent novels, the reader will want to join them as they eat and drink and solve their way through a mystery in Provence. You might want to crack open a bottle of wine, or make a cup of espresso and pick up some brioches — but make sure they are good ones, or the food snob Verlaque would not approve — before settling down to read this entertaining mystery.

redbush tea and comfort

Article first published as Book Review: The Double Comfort Safari Club, by Alexander McCall Smith on Blogcritics.

New in paperback, the 11th book in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, The Double Comfort Safari Club, by Alexander McCall Smith, does not disappoint. McCall Smith, one of the most prolific writers around, once agin crafts a deceptively leisurely tale featuring the best (and only lady) detective in Botswana, Precious Ramotswe.

Mma Ramotswe, to use the correct and respectful title for the traditionally-built detective, once again must navigate an assortment of problems, mostly related to maters of the heart. As her secretary, no, make that Assistant Detective, Mma Makutsi notes, everyone, including herself, comes to Mma Ramotswe when something is bothering them. She has a way of making a person feel better. "Mma Ramotswe was always willing to talk about weighty matters — you could talk to her about something as simple as the weather or the price of sausages, and you would come away reassured. Perhaps the weather was not going to be as dry and hot as everybody feared — perhaps there really would be good rains; perhaps sausages were not as expensive as they appeared to be, given that they contained all that meat, and there was no wastage with a sausage."

Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, from the HBO series based on the books

McCall Smith is very much like Precious Ramotswe. His books are always a balm. Problems of ethics and affairs of the heart are introduced, but they always have a solution. It may not always be the happiest outcome for everyone involved, but it is usually the correct one. Mma Ramotswe understands what is most important in life — kindness — and she tries to approach every situation with that in mind. Even when she is physically restraining an angry woman, someone whom she has just informed will not be successful in her scam to cheat one of Mma Ramotswe's clients, she still manages to find compassion for the woman, feeling sorry for her, knowing that her bad behavior comes from a deep inner well of unhappiness. Mma Ramotswe is not a detective in the tradition of Philip Marlowe or even Miss Marple. She is as much a guru as an unraveler of puzzles.

The Double Comfort Safari Club is a continuation of the day-to-day lives of Mma Ramotswe and those she loves, but can also be read and enjoyed out of sequence from the rest of the series. If you had read an earlier novel, taking place before Mma Makutsi had become engaged, as you are reading this book you might think to yourself, "Ah, Mma Makutsi has become engaged, good for her, she deserves some happiness," much as you might remark hearing the fact from Mma Ramotswe herself, telling you over a cup of strong redbush tea.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book, apart from the interactions between all of the very different characters, is that these people all ponder. Lots of different things, and their pondering is always entertaining to read. McCall Smith has a gift for being able to write in the many different voices of his very individual characters. Maybe it is the pace of life in Botswana, or the open vistas that influence so much reflection, but it has a soothing, beneficial effect on the reader.

McCall Smith's books are never boring — there is always plenty going on. It's surprising how many little plot threads are introduced and resolved by book's end. There is an overall sense of life taking time, and that in itself is good. As Mma Ramotswe is waiting to meet with a client, a nature guide from the Double Comfort Safari Club, she is told by his supervisor, who looks out at the setting sun, that he will be back soon. "Mma Ramotswe noticed the glance at the sun. People who lived in towns had stopped doing that — they had watches to enslave them. Here in the bush it was different: what the watch said was less important than what the sun said, and that, she thought, was the way it should be."

the good and bad points of sausage dogs

Having a sausage dog comes with built-in disadvantages and benefits.

The disadvantages are that the dog requires walking, which may not always be what you are in the mood for. Even worse, the dog, as soon as you get its leash, may decide to let loose, for some inexplicable reason, and pee on the rug. This causes a lot of cursing and frustrated stomping around as you still have to take said dog out for a walk — after you clean up the mess.

But, as previously stated, there are a few benefits. On these oh-so-inconvenient walks, which disturb you from early sleep or watching television or cruising the internet, you actually get outside, into the fresh air, and can look around. A certain amount of exercise is also involved. If the walk takes place during the daytime, you may see some interesting flora and fauna. If it takes place in the night time, you can study the heavens.

Tonight, as I was shaking off my bad mood at what had transpired a few minutes earlier on the living room carpet, I happened to look up in the sky and see this:

A moon ring, also known as a winter halo, is a phenomenon that usually appears in conjunction with a full moon ... It is caused by refraction of the light from the full moon in the ice particles floating in the clouds, as opposed to a rainbow, where light refracts in the water vapor that makes up the clouds ... In ancient beliefs it is believed that a moon ring means very warm days before the winter storm.

Sausage dogs may sometimes be a nuisance, but if it wasn't for a certain accident which better not happen again in the near future, I might not have been inspired to take a different route with a more unobstructed view.

With a nod to Alexander McCall Smith

everybody's got a story

I have written before about how pleased I was with the adaptation of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. The first series is almost over and it just gets better and better. One of the best aspects of Alexander McCall Smith's writing is his interest in all the characters - and some of them are true "characters" - that inhabit his worlds. Happily, the cable series follows his lead. In last night's episode, Mma Ramotswe gently probed her feelings about Rra J.L.B. Matekoni as she solved the episode's mysteries. But also revealed were insights into the characters of BK, Mma Makutsi and her brother Richard.

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Truth & Mystery

Because everyone has a story, or series of stories to tell. They might not be apparent at first, or even second or third glance. Some people leave this world without ever sharing their stories. That's life. And that's Smith's writing. It's all about life and love and the choices we make, the paths we take. Mma Ramotswe is a good person, but she can make mistakes, and keep secrets, and cause pain, and love two very different men at different times of her life. Sort of like all of us. And like all of us, it is endlessly interesting to watch and see how she will sort it all out.

one hot Mma

Last night HBO aired the pilot of the new (to the U.S.) series The The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and for fans of author Alexander McCall Smith's series, of which I am a proud member, it was well worth the wait. The movie captured so much of what is wonderful about the books, including the language, colors and gentle pace of Botswana. What I may have missed just a little, was heroine Precious Ramotswe's (and Smith's) wise and wonderful observations about life, although I missed a bit of the beginning dialogue, as my daughter was so excited by the location and the animals (giraffes! elephants!) Luckily, this is on HBO, so I will get many opportunities to see it again and catch what I might have missed.

Although this show is being reviewed as a detective show, and Mma Ramotswe does indeed unravel some puzzles, that is not what the books or this movie are about. All of Smith's series are concerned with people and life and how we all muddle through it together. In the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series we are given a slice of what life must be like to lead in Botswana. The values of the "old Botswana" are frequently upheld, with more than a nudge that maybe we could all benefit by re-adopting some of what we seem to have lost in our fast and furious modern world - kindness, courtesy, patience - over a generous slice of raisin cake.

Smith taught law in Botswana, but is now an author full time, and I frankly don't know how he does it. Apart from the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, he also has other wonderful series of books, two of which I have read, both set in Edinburgh: The Sunday Philosophy Club series and the 44 Scotland Street series. Both have their charms. Isabel Dalhousie is the heroine of the Sunday Philosophy Club and she ponders questions both philosophical and romantic as she explores the finer things that Edinburgh has to offer. 44 Scotland Street is compiled from a series of stories that Smith published in The Scotsman newspaper. The tales follow an assortment of characters who live on the titular street, and in serial fashion we get to follow their exploits. Especially interesting is young Bertie, who has to deal with a smothering mother and the desire to fit in, somewhere.

I saw Smith at a reading here in D.C. a year ago and was delighted to find that he also writes books for children!

A one-man dynamo, surely, his books are not only creating small waves of happiness in the world, but must also be inspiring tourism to Botswana and Edinburgh, as I have added both of those places to my traveler's wishlist - and they were never even on my radar before.

I also just discovered that he has taken the serial novel idea online with his latest, Corduroy Mansions. So excuse me, I've got to get reading!