Anne was decorating the tree yesterday, digging through those old boxes of ornaments we’ve collected over the years. It’s Tess’s first Christmas in the farmhouse next door, and she’s been itching to get her place looking festive too. So Anne started setting aside a few nostalgic pieces to pass along… little bits of family history to help her place feel like home.
Well, in the middle of all that, Anne pulled out a small ceramic figurine with faded writing on the bottom. She squinted at it and read aloud, “To Tess, from Bob and Bonnie. 2004.”
That stopped me in my tracks. Bonnie Harvey — our neighbour, friend, and the glue that held half this community together. And Bob, who helped my dad as naturally as breathing, and even came over a few times to help me back when I hardly knew what I was doing.
Bonnie never missed a Christmas drop-in. Sometimes it was a card, sometimes a little wrapped surprise — and always her famous homemade Nuts and Bolts snack mix — but mostly it was just her: warm, steady, always ready with a chat.
So last night, when Tess came by after work and Anne handed her that ornament, I found myself thinking, we don’t have a Bonnie anymore. And then… we’re not even a “Bonnie” to anyone, are we?
Anne looked at me the way she does when she’s trying to follow the maze inside my mind. I tried again.
“What I mean is… who are we being that good neighbour to?”
It’s funny — I think as you get older, you realize those people don’t just magically appear in your life. Somebody has to be them. And sometimes you’ve got to make the chance happen, not wait for it.
I remembered something Bonnie did for me once. I was going through a rough patch, And she called me up saying she had a printer issue she needed help with. I went over, fixed her perfectly fine printer, had a cup of tea, and carried on.
Years later it hit me: Bonnie didn’t need my help at all.
She knew I needed hers.
So, heading into this Christmas season, I think I’m going to try — in my own bumbling way — to be a little more like Bonnie. I doubt I’ll hit the mark; that woman set the bar sky-high. But it sure wouldn’t hurt to try.
Farmer Rod
Bonnie Harvey’s Famous Nuts & Bolts (Snack Mix)
Ingredients:
Cheerios, Shreddies, Corn Bran, Crispix, small pretzel sticks, salted peanuts, cashews, mixed nuts, roasted corn kernels.Seasoning Mix:
1 ¾ lb (800 g) butter, 2 Tbsp garlic salt, 8 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce.
How to Make It:
Melt the butter, then stir in the garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce.
Fill two large roasting pans with any mix of cereals and nuts you like. Pour the butter mixture over top and stir well.
Bake uncovered at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes, stirring every 5–10 minutes.
Let it cool completely, then store in airtight containers… and deliver to neighbours in excessively large Ziplock bag portions. 😄