I thought that it would be nice to get away from politics for
a change - afterall the Festive Season is just
around the corner.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all
a Festive Season that's filled with warm memories and
magical moments. And a New Year that surpasses all
your expectations.

I would be interested to read what traditions you share
with your family during this special time of the year.

BUSH NATIVITY...

The outback was buzzing with wonderful news
A wallaby passed it to two kangaroos
Spiny echidnas emerged from the ground
Busy young bandicoots bounded around
A web-footed platypus gazed at the view
Some fluffy-tailed gliders looked longingly too
Carolling kookaburras laughed with delight
Crimson rosellas sang right through the night
Along loped an emu as though in a dream
Koalas stopped munching to show their esteem
Dancing grey brolgas stepped forward and bowed
Bright-crested cockatoos chattered aloud
A possusm quite joyfully pricked up one ear
And wide-eyed with wonder a wombat crept near
The stars of the Southern Cross pointed the way
To the Babe who was born on that first Christmas Day.

Thank you.

For all those who are suffering and may be alone, know that we think of you and wish you the very best and better fortune. Smile at someone and be rewarded with a smile.

Special thoughts for those who are unwell and their carers. Serious illness can be very isolating and cruel. We think of you and pray.

Dear onthebeach,

Thank You for your comments.

Marianne Williamson put it so beautifully
when she wrote:

"Through prayer some of us may find what
we cannot find elsewhere: a peace that
is not of this world...
Praying for someone is a gracious act.
It gives blessing to the one who prays,
as well to the person who is prayed for."

I believe that if one is able and
can afford to donate money to organisations like
Vinnies and the Salvos, especially at this time
of the year, it would bring faster results.

You did not share with us - how you celebrate this
Festive Season. We'd love to read it.

This year like many previous my family will thank God for His wonderful Son. I will also be extremely grateful for a wonderful wife and children. We will then eat well and be thankful for this blessed nation. A backyard game of cricket if the temperature is less than 40 is likely. Over to a friends pool if its a baking day. Many phone calls to family spread across the nation will follow. Will also reminisce about family and friends that have gone on to face our Maker. Hope all have a blessed time.

Thanks Lexi. Merry Xmas to you, & every one else on here.

When I think of Christmas, & what it means, I remember one spent in Rabaul New Guinea. I was based there, although not actually living there.

It was a strange town, with a couple of thousand Europeans, who were almost all managers, & 20,000 locals in various states of growth. Most of us, who were not plantation owners, were on 2 or 4 year contracts. There was a strong social life based on 6 clubs, each with a bar, dining room & other facilities.

I was a member of the yacht club, usually ate there when in town, & had been co-opted onto the committee, when someone went finish, [left the town].

I as most people there, had quite a few acquaintances, & associates, but no real friends, in this environment.

A couple, members of the yacht club, but not into sailing, invited me, & 3 other crusty bachelors to Christmas lunch. After a light lunch we sat around eating all sorts of treats, Jenny must have ordered in from Oz or the UK, drinking mostly soft drink, with lots of ice.

By evening, when we repaired to the club for a bar b que, Mike & Jenny, & 2 of the bachelors had become friends. One of them was to sail a few thousand miles with me later.

Jenny's kindness to us had turned what could have been a lonely time into one of the nicest Christmases I have had.

I hope you all have good company to share your Christmas with.

Yes, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

I will be home for Christmas this year instead of going to the city to my Relations place as usual. My husband will dust off our once -a-year Webber barbeque and cook the turkey outside so we don't heat up the house. He will drive for 2 hours up to Perth and back, to bring my elderly mum to have Christmas with us.

It is my turn to be on call for my Community Nursing job this year.
This means I can't have my usual gin and tonics on a hot Christmas Day unfortunately, but at least my family have their health.
. It must be awful to be so sick or dying during the festive season, that you may need a nurse to visit you at home on Christmas Day.

So I count my blessings...

Suze,

My elderly mum is coming to us for Christmas as well, as she does every year.

I'm thinking there's a fairly good chance that you and I live in the same place - or nearby. It's about two hours to Perth from where I live.

Season's Greetings, folks of OLO

May I wish a holy Christmas to those who share a faith, and a festive Christmas to those who don't.

This piece of prose is for you Lexi my belle:

Here's the Xmas Wattle
The symbol of our land
You can put it in a bottle
Or hold it in your hand.

Paul.

It's lovely to see so many responding to my thread
and sharing in the spirit of this Season.
Thank You.

Dear runner,

May you have a blessed time with your family.
And in the New Year may we all find more of what
unites us than what divides us.

Dear Hasbeen,

Some still dream of a 'White Christmas,' but most of
us prefer the sun, surf, sand, and oceans of this
country of ours. Whatever our preferences your post
simply confirms what's important during this Beautiful
Season. It's time spent with friends, family, loved ones.
I'll be cooking both Christmas Eve (Seafood) and the
traditional Christmas Lunch again this year.

My mother-in-law passed away on in October this year. She
was on the tail-end of Alzheimers and was finally placed
in palliative care. We kept a constant vigil - now she's
at peace. It will be the first Christmas without her.

Dear Suse,

My mother will be joining us on Christmas Eve and for
Christmas Lunch. She also suffers from dementia, and
having lost my mother-in-law this year, Christmas with
mum will mean even more to our family. I'll be thinking
of you all at Christmas - and toasting to your health.

Dear Poirot,

It would be amazing if you and Suse did actually live
close to each other. How great would that be!

Dear SOG (Paul),

Thank you for the wattle-poem.
You really know how to put a smile on my face.
Big hug.

Lexi,

Thank you for your wishes to forum members, and they are reciprocated.

Personally for me the festive season isn't much different than any other time of year. I have magical moments all the time. Being an aetheist, I just enjoy the wonder on children's faces all the time, but Xmas is so special for them so I pay particular attention to them at this time of year.
Why can't the 'spirit of Christmas' continue every day? What a wonderful world it would be if violence and illwill were replaced by kindness and caring for our fellow man, the environment, and all the blessings around us - and animals - my dog asked me to include him.

Dear worldwatcher,

What a suitable moniker you've chosen for posting
on this forum. I don't have the answers to the big
questions in life. Everything is relative, everything
has its story; and everyone has obstacles to overcome.
They are our greatest teachers. I've met some amazing
souls on this forum and hopefully, I'll continue to
learn from them. Talking about children - here's
something that you may enjoy:

GROWING PAINS ...

Here's to the kids who are different;
the kids who don't always get A's,
the kids who have ears twice the size of their peers',
or noses that go on for days.
Here's to the kids who are different,
the kids who are just out of step,
the kids they all tease, who have cuts on their knees
and whose sneakers are constantly wet.
Here's to the kids who are different,
the kids with a mischievous streak,
for when they have grown, as history has shown,
it's their difference that makes them unique.
(Digby Wolfe, for a TV Special).

Thank you Lexi for sharing that,

I enjoyed reading it. How true! It is our differences which make humans so fascinating.

My tenet has been to treat children as small adults, rather than talk down to them as children. Amazing what responses I get!
If there is such a thing as another time around I think some of them must be on at least their second or third.

And I'd like to wish everbody on this Site a lovely peaceful and happy Christmas, and that we all have a better and a more positive 2013.

As we all look towards a new year, many of us will wonder if it'll be an improvement of the preceding year ? Personally, I do hope so.

This year, we've seemingly reached new depths in terms of declining standards of parliamentry behaviour. And just hours ago, we've had our senses once more assulted by the awful news of the deaths of over twenty innocent souls, many just mere toddler's, in the small picturesque township of Newtown, in the leafy New England State, of CT ?

And then we hear the news of the successful conference in Bloemfontein, RSA being organised by the governing party, the African National Congress - another example of democracy in a country hitherto ruled by the iron fist of Apartheid ! And I surprisingly, hear from a friend who's just excitingly told me, the surgery he had for a nasty cancer on his face, being 100% successful.

So I suspect this will be a very nice, peaceful Christmas after all for many, and for the many others, we can but only hope ?

Merry Christmas to you all...Sung Wu.

Dear worldwatcher,

I'm glad that the poem struck a chord, it did with
me as well when I first read it. Children are a
challenge. I've had to deal with them professionally
(as a librarian) and I found that all I lacked was
Solomon's wisdom, Freud's insight, Einstein's
knowledge, and Florence Nightingale's dedication.
(smile).

Dear o sung wu,

Thanks for the hopeful note of your post.
It has been an awful year in so many ways -
let's trust that the New Year will give us
something better.

A Merry Christmas to all!

I'll be making my annual pilgrimage south to spend Christmas with my parents, my brother and his family. I always enjoy this time of year: some peace and quiet, a general sense of goodwill and hopes for a new year.

It's funny how an arbitrary marker - a new year - can bring with it so many hopes. Once my New Year's resolutions are thoroughly quashed, I look forward to Chinese New Year when I can make them - and break them - all over again.

As for Christmas, I certainly embrace the religious side of it, but extend my warm wishes to those who don't. Whether you believe in God or his Son or eternal salvation or something completely different (or, indeed, nothing at all), there's something wonderful about taking time out to give gifts (material or immaterial) to those we cherish. I agree with the sentiment that the 'spirit of Christmas' should continue year-round. Of course, if it did, we'd have to step up that Christmas spirit just a little more around the end of December to give ourselves a goal for further peace, happiness and goodwill in the future.

Perhaps Christmas should be a renewal of our commitment to each other and to our world, and a hope that we can strengthen that commitment each year we are lucky enough to enjoy?

That's enough philosophical rambling for me, though. Season's greetings and all that to all who read this!

Thanks Lexi.
Plenty of visitors standard English baked chook and ham, plus pork.
Just a few drinks, if you believe that carry my wheely bin to the corner!
Still, as every year,would rather the cold meats and sea food, salads every day of Chrissy, but not my choice.
Truly hope it is great for every one.

Dear Otokonoko,

Thank You for sharing your thoughts with us and we
wish you a very Joyous Christmas with your family.
May the new year solve the leadership crisis that
we're currently experiencing. Let us trust that the
politicians will listen to his or her constituents
and hope that they're not swayed by politics.
May they grow beyond a shallow fight - and give us
new light, new peace, new politics, and new hope for
all the world.

Dear Belly,

Sounds perfect to me.

May you have warm memories, and many magical
moments. And may the New Year bring us a few
surprises - politically! (nice ones that is).

Lexi

'May you have a blessed time with your family.
And in the New Year may we all find more of what
unites us than what divides us. '

We can certainly agree that we live in a wonderfully blessed country where most have the opportunity to have a great Christmas. Hope you remain healthy and also have a wonderful time with your family.

Merry Christmas peeps!

I will be up early thinking bad thoughts about the slack buggers who aren’t up early with me.

A stack of pancakes will be made before waking the household this year so the kids have full stomachs prior to chemical restraining then unleashed on a candy cane laden tree that is drowning in an ocean of pressies.

All gifts were purchased based solely on the criteria of being as environmentally unfriendly as possible.

I have put photos on each present due to the abundance of school age children who have arrived with the reading capabilities of small iguanas.

I expect giggling, lots of shouting, several meltdowns, much hunting for batteries, the odd timeout, all the adults to be completely useless for at least 2 hours after a roast lunch, and some awesome photo opportunities that look like everything was perfect cause really that’s the way we want to remember it.

Dear runner,

Thank You. We've just received the best
Christmas present ever - another grandson!
All of us are overjoyed - mother and baby
are both healthy and doing beautifully.
Couldn't ask for anything more.
Take care.

Dear Piper,

It's great to hear from you my dear, and welcome back!
Don't work too hard on Christmas Day - although that's
probably not going to happen - knowing you.
Have fun!

We've already started with the great battery juggle....due to son suddenly getting the urge to rebuild Lego train from three Christmases ago - (It's currently snaking around the internal feature wall into the hall and back into the lounge) Cat's are fascinated, telly remote now has no batteries which are residing in the train control pad.

: )

Dear Poirot,

I'd love to buy a train set for my grandchildren -
but they're still too young. I did visit the
shop called "Honeybee Toys" in Malvern (here in
Melbourne). They've got some wonderful wooden
toys (handcrafted from Germany and Europe). My
grandson is really into fairy tale characters -
especially Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and
animals like reindeer, squirrels, turtles, hedgehogs,
et cetera. He calls the dwarfs "Jo-Ho's," after the song
"Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, its home from work we go..." Having small
children makes you see things through their eyes!

Lexi,

Wow...you're about to have the opportunity to revisit all of those magical places.

I remember when my son was born (19 years after my daughter) that it occurred to me that once again I would be able to go to those places again. He's 11 now, so he's over the age for fairy tales and infant-type credulousness, but still likes to invent his own fictional places.

My daughter grew up with a love of myth....she's much more knowledgeable than I am on such things. Although my son recently built a "world" on his ipad app - and I built a linking one...and we're both working on coming up with "myths" associated with our worlds.

There's always an opportunity for invention and creativity.

Dear Poirot,

I love children. (I'm a children's librarian - running
all the Storytimes, et cetera). And now with grandchildren
I get to live in that world all the time. Awesome!
Dealing with older kids must be quite a challenge!

Thankyou Lexi, my couple of hours in the kitchen at Xmas are really me playing and loving the peace and quiet while everyone else has to deal with the kids. Congratulations on the addition of a grandchild… a real baby for the manger. :)

I’m going to find a lego train now, I didn’t know you could get them. After years with toddlers I find myself with a group of 6 – 9 year olds and desperate for ideas to keep them busy. Last day of school today, might teach them the alphabet since no one else has yet. Arrgghh.

I am looking forward to Christmas, I have a kid who had never even trimmed a tree before and so the excitement coming from this one is really building up and it’s contagious.

Lexi, "how you celebrate this Festive Season"

We celebrate Christmas if that is what you mean. I am not into 'Happy festive season' and 'Happy holiday'.

All can enjoy Christmas and the most do regardless of belief. It is truly a multicultural celebration in Australia. Elsewhere too it appears.

For us it is family, friends and whoever wants to drop in. It is a time that reminds us to feel thankful and grateful. We all tend to forget that.

What isn't there to like about these wonderful traditions?

New Year is another time to be with family and friends, but anyone is welcome. There is a sense of hope and renewal. Again a reminder of how we should and could be living all of the time.

Happy christmas to everyone on OLO, including Graham and others running the show.

Always interesting to read others points of view on various subjects.

This year, the Boss is visiting daughter and family in Melbourne, so I will be entertaining a couple of near neighbors who are single blokes. One is bringing the starters, another the deserts and i will do the roast main. I find roasts easy and one can enjoy a few drinks while they cook themselves. Plenty left for salads next days. I expect my sisters and Co to arrive later in afternoon.

Hope all have an enjoyable Christmas and look forward to more disscussion next year.

Dear Piper,

Thanks Piper - and Good Luck with the 6 - 9 year olds.
Are they into swimming and do you have the time
to take them to your local pool?

I know what you mean
about children's excitement being contagious.
My grandchildren (3 in all) are toddlers -
a 3 year old, a one year old, and
now a new-born. Seeing things through their eyes is
sheer magic.

Dear onthebeach,

Thank You for getting back to this thread and you're
right, it is all about family and friends. It would
be great if we could keep this spirit alive all year.

Dear Banjo,

Right back at you!

I am looking forward to sparring with you once again
next year. I must admit you've made me re-think so many
issues this year.

My autistic one came home today telling me all about how the Easter bunny visited his school and gave him a present. Err… “gosh you lucky” says I. He either missed his lunchtime meds or the school is just messing with their heads.

We don’t need the Xmas spirit alive every day because every day seems to be something… International Don’t Shop Day was a few days ago. I fully supported International Goth Day… Not. Who makes this stuff up?

Will we get to the point where Xmas is known as International Gift Day?

Dear Piper,

You ask, "Will we ever get to the point where
Christmas is 'International Gift Day?'"

To some people, it already is.

I think this thread has now had its run and
I'd like to Thank everyone who contributed to it.
I'll leave you with one of my favourite Christmas
carols (Rolf Harris - Six White Boomers):

Early on one Christmas Day a Joey Kangaroo
Was far from home and lost in a great big zoo
Mummy, where's my mummy? They've taken her away
We'll help find your mummy, son, hop up on the sleigh

Up beside the bag of toys little Joey hopped
But they hadn't gone far when Santa stopped
Unharnessed all the reindeer and Joey wondered why
Then he heard a far off booming in the sky

Six white boomers, snow white boomers
Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun
Six white boomers, snow white boomers
On his Australian run

Pretty soon old Santa began to feel the heat
Took his fur lined boots off to cool his feet
Into one popped Joey, feeling quite okay
While those old man kangaroos kept pulling on the sleigh

(chorus) Six white boomers...

Joey said to Santa, "Santa, what about the toys?
Aren't you giving some to these girls and boys?"
"They've got all their presents, son, we were here last night
This trip is an extra trip, Joey's special flight"

(chorus) Six white boomers ...

Soon the sleigh was flashing right past Marble Bar
"Slow down there," cried Santa, "It can't be far."
Come up on my lap here, son, and have a look around
There she is, that's mummy, bounding up and down

(chorus) Six white boomers ...

Well, that's the bestest Christmas treat that Joey ever had
Curled up in his mother's pouch feeling snug and glad
The last they saw was Santa heading northwards from the sun
The only year the boomers worked a double run

(chorus) Six white boomers...