Several years ago I received a musical Christmas Carousel for a gift. I love it and take it out each year. It plays an assortment of Christmas Carols and when switched the other way it plays everyday songs like the theme from the movie the "Sting."

I have always loved riding on a Merry-Go-Round. Whether it was at Glenn Echo, or the Magic Kingdom or on the carousel in front of the Smithsonian or in the neighborhood Mall, I love going for a ride.

I have concocted my own little game. The person riding the horse, or camel or whatever that ends up highest at the end of the ride wins. In my imagination I am not going up and down and around in circles. While I am riding I feel joy and just plain happy. One time I might feel like a princess riding across the field, another time my imagination might have me riding along the beach.

It is fun and certainly safer for me to ride a Merry-Go-Round than to ride a real horse. My carousel is playing as I am writing so I will wish you a day filled with memories that make you smile and an imagination that takes you to places that fill your heart with joy. As for me, I'm going to select a special horse on my carousel and watch it while my imagination takes me for a ride.