Eve

New Year's Eve. I should be at home with my family. Instead, courtesy of Virgin Atlantic and my old pal Sir Richard Branson, I will be landing at Cyril E. King Airport in the US Virgin Islands within the next hour. By the way, in case you were wondering , that is Cyril E. King in the top picture. He was the second governor of the US Virgin Islands from 1975 until his untimely death in 1978. It was cancer that got him.

If all goes according to plan, I will be sped directly to Little St James aboard a jet hydroplane that Sir Richard  recently renamed "The Lady Joan" after his late wife.

Text messages from Rhymer on the island reveal that many of the "invited" or should I say, designated guests have already arrived.

As we sometimes say in Yorkshire, "There's no accounting for folk". Some guests greeted their complimentary transport providers with unbridled joy but others raged against the prospect of an enforced New Year break in the Caribbean. They had to be frogmarched into waiting taxis and helicopters and I am sorry to say that a few had to be tranquilised by Laughing Horse collection agents.

Some objected vehemently to the selected venue with Jennifer from South Carolina saying, "Oh dear. Not THAT island. Nope" while mysteriously, Steve Reed, Blogger of the Year in 2016, said, "Oh my. I might have to sit this one out! Bad karma on that island!" Jenny O'Hara,  from Nova Scotia, Canada and overall winner in 2019 referred to "bad juju".

All three of them are currently in transit. I am afraid that they had no choice. They may fabricate tales about ordinary New Year celebrations in their blogs but the truth is they will be on Little St James with the rest of us this very night. It's a bit like wartime - when Laughing Horse calls you simply have to go.

Frankly, I find their objections puzzling. After all, these moaning minnies are getting free transport and a short break on an exclusive Caribbean island with all-inclusive luxury accommodation. Plus the unique honour of witnessing the eighteenth Laughing Horse Awards Ceremony. What's not to like? Here at the very end of 2025, it's nice to spread a little love.

Weather permitting, tonight's awards ceremony will take place around the main pool