Christmas

Blue Christmas: Hydrangea

On a Christmas break but things are still quite busy and am taking a quick break from a spot of work.

We had a family lunch on Christmas day which turned out to be a lot of fun. My little niece was of course at the centre of it all and it turned out to be a water filled event, she in her little pool, we under the sprinkler bought for her.  As a gift, I made her a book called A Short History of D_ Up Until Now which integrated her Dad's pictures of her and my text.  It was immensely enjoyable making it and looking at all the ways in which she's grown.  The niece is probably going to be an editor, she carefully absorbed the contents of the book and laughed a lot but also pointed out the errors in the text (my toy house is green, yellow and red and not green, yellow, red and blue!).

Later she curled up in my lap and lay for awhile. She often does this, in these moments she is like a small, warm animal enjoying being held and stroked. When I think of her it is always associated with the feeling of her in my arms.

After the heat of Christmas, its been wet and today when I came into the city the rain was beating down. The Christmas trees around the city look slightly ghostly yet twinkling in the mist. But there are people in the city and from my window I can see that the boats are out in the harbour.  I think I have been in Sydney over every Christmas break and I like the city at this time, emptied of the daily commuters and festive and relaxed.