Happy Holidays 2009

Here’s a look at my 2009 holiday card. This year I played with some of the classic 1951 lyrics to “Sleigh Ride” by lyricist Mitchell Parrish.

I send a holiday card to nearly all my friends, immediate family, and clients, so I have set myself a goal that each year’s card illustration should not focus only on Christmas but should include elements of the season that everyone can relate to.

I felt confident this year turning to the lyrics of Jewish immigrant Parrish, with his cheery rhymes about old-fashioned wintertime fun. A couple of my favorite parts are the sweet image of togetherness in, “There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy -- when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie” followed closely by the gentle reminder that “These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives,” and of course the most amusing line to sing out loud, “We’ll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop -- by the fireside while we watch the chestnuts pop -- pop, pop, pop!”