Happy New Year 2019 ... if you can stop thinking about the bushfires

A page from the family album for New Year. 

Not much to say about the season this year ... it's not a very happy time in Australia, with so many people suffering, half  a billion animals perished in the fires already (no that is not a typo), and no end in sight either to the heat, the drought, the bushfires, or the patent stupidity of governments in the east, who seem to think firefighters sweat and die for the fun of it, and should be crowd-funded while they lay down their lives. Don't get me started. So --

In honor of the day, we'll put on a smile, shoot a selfie in front of the Christmas tree, and say --

Happy New Year to family and friends around the world. May 2020 bring major rain, coolness, relief ... and perhaps even a change in leadership at government level, before it's too late for anything to be done at all. Sigh.

Yuletide 2019 was like this...

Christmas Eve lunch: sushi, potato salad, coleslaw, prawn chips

Christmas Day lunch: reset the table for dessert

Christmas Day Brekkie, while we opened pressies

It's not all about food, honestly ... but sometimes you'd think it might be! We didn't actually get to Christmas Day lunch. Dave made himself a platter, but Mike and I were satiated after breakfast and decided to just slide on into the afternoon! The Christmas tree was pillaged...

...and Zolie had a fine time "helping" to open presents. DVDs, Blu-Rays and books, tropical shirts and cycling apparel, plus bike bits for Dave; cosmetics and a harddrive for self; a harddrive and a Tomcat model kit for Mike ... and of course a day playing with the real gift this season, which has been in place and playing for a few weeks now. We got a 65" 4K TV with Dolby Atmos. And I am sooo impressed. We spent lunchtime watching the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Eve Concert from last year, streamed in HD. Wow. The picture is so amazing, I couldn't resist grabbing a shot with the phone to see what was doable --

This, from a streaming wildlife wallpaper video:

Having such a nice time in this part of the globe right now, one is almost guilty. There's so much pain and suffering, with the on-going fires, that the crisis is never far from your mind, even when the sky is bright (as it is today) rather than brown with smoke, as it was for days.

On December 18th I was inspired to post to facebook, a message to family and friends, to not be concerned for us specifically, because we weren't in the danger zone, and then just a few days later I had to amend that post with another major message -- because we had our own local crisis in this area! Dang...



...there really is no answer to that, so we won't even try to find one. The mercury is heading due north again, we'll be back to 105 F in a few days. *Sigh* so...

If I had to describe my mind-space to you right now, it would be this:

If I had one wish, it would be for summer 2019-2020 to be cool and wet, and for the fire danger to be over already. Alas, there's about 14 - 16 weeks of danger left, minimum. We can only hope.

To friends and family everywhere, Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas to all, 2019!

To family and friends everywhere ... 

wishing you a very Merry Christmas 

and 

a safe, Happy New Year!