December and January could well be renamed Holiday months in Australia. They are times of summer days at the beach, and a gourmet feast of high class sporting events on TV if you can’t attend the real thing…. the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race or the Melbourne cricket test, the New Years Eve fireworks on Sydney harbour, the Sydney test match and the Australian Open tennis.

            Then there are the numerous arts   festivals, campdrafts, rodeos, local shows, sporting clinics and competitions throughout New South Wales. Just an hour down the steep Moonbi hill, Tamworth  runs the internationally famed Country Music   Festival. Up the highway, Guyra holds its Lamb and Potato festival and every town and village gears up for a day of  community involvement for our Australia Day celebrations on 26th January.

            It’s a time for relaxation and      recuperation for many people. For our family this Christmas was a mixture of work and play.

            Son Philip works with Search and Rescue coordination and he was tasked with briefing the yachties of the big race…(carry your alarm beacon at all times, if you fall overboard at night find a way to stay alive until daylight when we can get a chopper to you.)

            Dr. Peter was on duty at his hospital in Queensland ready to deal with those who were already ill or became sick or injured over Christmas. Paul the teacher was able to relax as school was over for another year but with a baby due any time it was not quite so relaxing after all. (And we were all delighted to welcome baby James in early January.)

            We made the long trek south to catch up with the grandchildren and enjoy their wonder at this magical Christmas time. They are still a bit young for the night time service of carols and readings but they appreciate this is a special time for families to get together.

            We left home in drought, we could see the flames of a bush fire on the northern hills, (over 100 fires burning in the state), house dam dry, grass dead and brown, small trees withering without our hose watering, the big gum trees dropping limbs as they try to survive the lack of groundwater.

            We arrived home after Boxing Day to find there had been a local storm and the dam was full. The next couple of days we had more storms over our little patch, a total of 300 mm or 12 inches of rain. We are at the top of Mount Butler so there’s not much room for run off up here, but water raced down the hill and those in the valley had rivers pouring through their back yards or, in some cases, their houses. But no one’s complaining, the grass is green and growing fast, many of the native trees are in flower, all the district dams are full and the bushfire danger has eased.

            I wish you all a good start to the new decade. May 2010 prove to be a safe, happy and healthy year for you all.

Caroline Gaden.