It's the time of the year called Christmas time and we're all spending a lot of it with family and with friends. No? Actually, that's right. Many people have noone to spend time with over the end-of-year season - supposed by the majority and by those in charge of advertising and the media to be the "festive" season - and, of those who do, not a few find that those days spent together are less than complete. In fact, I've heard that the divorce rate goes up in January. It's a bit unfortunate, don't you think?

Possibly not as sad as the Christmas tree I bought for this year's celebrations: a tiny Norfolk Island pine, an araucaria. It's so slender the decorations make the branches dip. I was contemplating my tree today and the thought sprung up in my brain that its branches look like little arms and hands. It looked, to me as I sat on the couch, that the tree was doing a special Christmas dance, known only to infant araucarias worldwide.

Our meal finally cooked, we sat down at about 4pm to eat.

So this post is to wish those of you who read this blog a very happy festive season, hoping that you have the opportunity to spend it with people who care about you enough to make your end-of-year special. "Special" can mean "interesting" and "interesting" can mean many things, but my wish is that you can get through this time of transition with your self-esteem unscathed and your future prospects undamaged. Here's to a season of engaging connections to those around you, and to a useful and prosperous 2011. I will post again before the end of this year. Until then, Ciao.