D Day

​Well if that was Christmas then I’ve had it.  It was amazing how the packing up seemed so easy and short compared to everything that went into it.
As a kid I remember the pillowcase of Christmas presents.  I could open one before I went to the early service.  I do not remember the services, as I think I must have been thinking more of getting to the pillowcase.
Having reached 61 I have seen a few Christmases.  Everyone of them has been special.  The presents have been good, but it is the people I remember most clearly.  Today Stuart, Merril and I drove to the Sunshine Coast to have Christmas with my Richard oldest brother.  We tend to have thanksgiving with Merril’s folks because at Christmas they could be anywhere in the world. 
Of course we want rain.  That is except when we are travelling from A to B.  We had 22 ml last night and that is the first in weeks.  Rain and a storm are predicted again today.  We deliberately left early to avoid the traffic and predicted rain and it worked.  Well we missed some rain.  We had planned to leave at 8am but it was 8.30 before we got away.  The traffic cams showed the highway was good, and that was our experience.
I think the name Sunshine Coast is a bit misleading.   It seems to get so much rain.  When it is not raining here, there is a good chance it is raining there.  That was how it was.  We encountered no rain until we got close to the Sunshine Coast.
We got there and sat around and talked.  Every time I mentioned having lunch, I was told by my older brother it was only 10am.  It was after 11.  We opened presents.  We all enjoyed what we got.
I got a wireless mic.  I have a dream.  Actually, I think that line has been used before.  Anyway, I would like at the gatherings we have at my place, people to be able to skype in if they want to.  I think the elderly or infirmed would understand that best.  We had a guy at table tennis who was on the committee but dying.  I said you remind me of someone who’s spirit is willing but flesh is weak.  He said exactly.  Some people have the best will in the world, but circumstances prevent them jumping in the car and coming around.  I knew dad should not be driving anymore when he took us through a bush doing a U-turn on a really wide street.  So I will experiment with the wireless mic.  Our biggest problem at the moment seems to be having everyone heard.  Perhaps this will solve that.
Eventually we ate.  I was really pleased.  So often at Christmas so much is prepared and so much is wasted.  This time we all ate well and put the leftovers in containers which we distributed amongst ourselves for later on.
We had been reminiscing about prawns, so we were really please when my brother brought some out, and they had already been peeled.  We each got some that were left over.  That will be a light dinner for us tonight.  Sounds better when I am hungry.  Right now, I am full from lunch.
It was a lovely time.  Again it was the people.  We all love each other.  To me, that is a good place to be.