Mornington-By-Mere is
a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the
Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint
picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor
House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a
Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere
is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of
the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on
the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village
known as Manorside and Mariana Harding was staying at number 1 Dulcet Mill Lane
in the house she was raised in, along with her brother George, by their Aunt
Julia.
She was a
well-travelled woman in her mid-thirties who hadn’t put down roots anywhere but
she had made lots of friends which became problematic at Christmas time when it
came to sending Christmas cards because a considerable amount of strategic
planning was required to ensure that maximum effect was gained from sending
Christmas cards, because, design, timing, size and quality are of paramount
importance.
There are all kinds of
do’s and don’ts, one of them is sending Christmas cards too early, which is not
only ineffective but can be humiliating for the sender because it is very
revealing, by disclosing the size and quality of card, it exposes the sender to
the possibility of a devastating counter-attack.
On the other hand, a very
late Christmas card runs the risk of negating the recipient's ability to
respond, and reduces one's total card count, and it can look like an afterthought.
Mariana thought it was
better to be on the early, rather than late side, because the pre-emptive Christmas
card sets the pace and compels the opposition to reply.
And it is a brave
opponent who will respond with either a lesser card or better than card.
The second thing she
considered was the value and size of cards. Important people, certainly people
who think they are important, send big and important looking Christmas cards
which was designed to make the recipient feel small.
It was a costly option
but she thought it was worth it.
She didn’t consider
herself a snob though and she thought there was definitely a place for cheap
and nasty Christmas cards.
They could be used for
a variety of reasons they didn’t just imply bad taste or poverty, they could be
used to disrespect the recipient, and possibly lead to deletion from their Christmas
card list.
She found cheap cards
were particularly useful for terminating pointless Christmas card exchanges
with people she met on holiday or business trips when she foolishly exchanged addresses
on drunken night’s outs.
She tried to avoid
First-time Christmas cards sent on impulse to recent acquaintances because they
can have devastating consequences or disappointments.
But she didn’t follow
her own protocols so when she was in Denver for a conference at the end of
November and she met a man called Seelie Dawson, with whom she let her guard
down, and one night after dinner, when alcohol had been taken, she gave him her
address and phone number.
Following that breach
she was overcome with regrets, firstly for the breach, second for not getting
his details, thirdly for not giving him her email and finally for losing her
phone on the journey home.
And ever since she got
back to Mornington she had thought of nothing else but him and had abandoned
her long standing and well-honed system and sent no cards at all and occupied
her time examining the abundance of cards that arrived through her door every
day hoping there would be one from him and each day she was disappointed.
But she never gave up
hope and then on Christmas Eve she perused the pile of mail on the door mat once
again and on that day with wonder in her eyes she received a Christmas card and
the postmark was from Colorado, and she only knew one person there.
Her hand was shaking
while she opened the envelope and withdrew the card, but before reading it she
looked inside the envelope and saw a photo and it was a picture of her and
Seelie, together and smiling, which recalled the evening to her mind with perfect
clarity.
She turned her attention
to the card, but she closed her eyes and took a breath before opening it, but
when she did she read.
Mariana
I hope you liked the
photo, it was a very memorable evening.
I have tried several
times to phone you on the mobile number you gave me.
I am going to be in
England for the New Year, I would very much like to see you while I’m there,
perhaps we could have dinner.
I’ve written my
contact details on the back of the photo.
I look forward to
hearing from you, and I hope very much that we can get together in the New
Year.
Have a Happy Christmas
Seelie x
She flipped the photo
over and saw the full gamut of details and her joy could not be contained so it
was twenty minutes before she had calmed down enough for her start using them.
Despite the fact she
didn’t send a single Christmas card that year she had her best Christmas in a
decade and a very Happy New Year.
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