Tomorrow I will be working. I'm looking forward to the work I've got on, some really good and interesting projects and organisations to get 2011 started. Meanwhile I'm sitting in the humidity on the back deck. The yard is waterlogged. There is a pile of surfboards waiting to be rinsed of salt and then stacked until the swell beckons again. The smells from the kitchen are wafting out.
I'm enjoying just sitting here doing nothing. Maria and Johanna are buried in books. Rachel is off having coffee (which actually means hot chocolate) with Tyla, Heidi has just returned from the day's baby sitting and is doing final packing for her departure to Thailand tomorrow morning. Zac has just returned from Philip Island and has disappeared again to play basketball. All is well.
I was spoiled with an extra present at Christmas. A big blue Le Creuset pot. I've just christened it with some spices we bought at a market in Merimbula and it is in the oven slow cooking some Rangoon Lime Chicken. Mm, mm, mmmm.
I'm thinking about the QLD floods and wondering how it must be for those who have lost or are missing loved ones, and those who have lost their homes or businesses. We are living in sobering times. At this time of the year, the nation is typically in cruise mode, listening to cricket, lazing around and enjoying friends, family and food. It seems our lot these days is bush fire and floods. It is a reminder not to take anything for granted. It is a challenge to remember what matters most in life.
Events in 2010 changed us. It feels in some ways like we've lost our innocence. I expect 2011 will include learning to live with the reality of pain, uncertainty and risk, while maintaining the disciplines of health and love, the daily commitment to look for and appreciate truth, goodness and beauty.