So, here we are. Christmas time again. I'm a huge fan. How can you not be? - the room is full of lights and colours, I'm off work and allowed to drink from mid-afternoon till early morning, and there's all that goodwill concept kicking around.
Willow's birthday tomorrow morning. She's started to be a bit more able to deal with this double excitement - we can claw her down from the ceiling now and then.
I'm cooking a huge dinner on Christmas Day - I think the guest list is about 15 people. So I'm presuming they're not going to want to sit and listen to the cricket from Australia at 2 in the morning.
Shane Warne announced his retirement a couple of days ago, following the all-too-easy regaining of the Ashes. I never saw him play live unfortunately, which is a shame as he's one of the greats of all-time.
I'm having a decadent Christmas again this year, helped out by having my first Christmas bonus. I'm well into the realms of middle class territory - my kids are certainly going to grow up middle class at the least. It's a strange thing.
I'd like to be optimistic. I have lately had a few inklings of optimism, which is curious for me. Sure my personal life is fantastic in many ways, and even though I detest wage-slavery, I am at least reasonably OK with it at the moment; but neither of these are justifications for true optimism.
The greening of the Sahara: reading recently that the Sahara has - contrary to expectations - actually been greening lately, rather than desertification increasing - now, that was good news. Such things are few and far between though.
So, for Christmas, when we can at least have a little optimism, when we can perhaps think how the world could be a better place, when we can think that - if it's not necessarily a wonderful life, it at least bears that potential - and celebrate.
Most importantly of all, is the depth of feeling that we can allow ourselves by having some time out to contemplate. That's why I like to take a couple of weeks at this time of year. It was originally a winter solstice festival, and it's an appropriate time of year, when there's little agricultural work to be done, to contemplate. That I miss Luna is still an intense feeling. But I'm also looking forward - to next year and another new baby! And sheer joy at my two daughters. Amazement at my love, my Esther.
I also have precious old friends, some of which will be joining us on Christmas Day for dinner. And new friends too.
I guess the point of these ramblings is simply that I'm lucky and happy. And even though most things seem to indicate that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, there a few signs out there that just maybe there are also reasons to be cheerful...
