Love is not something we fall in or out of....it's a choice.

Event though I have the fan on full speed and blowing straight

into my face, I'm still boiling hot.

I've disregarded sheets, blankets and any type of clothing,

and yet, I'm still sweating up a storm oozing with perspiration

from every pore on my body.

In desperation I grab a pair of socks, fill them with water,

squeeze them a little and then put them on.

I lay down on the bed feet directly in front of the fan.

Ahh, finally, I feel a little cooler and manage to fall

asleep.

Although I have celebrated a LOT of Christmases here

in Australia, I'm not sure that I will ever get used to

celebrating it at temperatures that melts candles, cheese

and butter into puddles even with the air-con on.

One thing with traditions in my view is that we like to keep

 many of them even when we venture off to take up residency

in new and traditionally/culturally different countries. 

In my family's case that has meant that we have kept up

with most of our Swedish culinary traditions as much

 as possible.

So in our case: boiled potatoes served with herring and sour cream,

 baked ham, warm sauerkraut, warm meatballs, a number

of different kinds of cheeses, fried little sausages, a

number of different kinds of salads, and much more.

Not really suited to a country in which the temperatures

at Christmas time usually soars way above 30 degrees Celsius.

Alas, this year we are doing Christmas the Aussie way.

We are having a BBQ.

As I am not doing any of the food this year I'm not

sure exactly what is going to be BBQed but I'm 

hoping that included on the menu is also a Pavlova.

Pavlova is a meringue-based desert with a crisp outer shell

and a melt-in-your-mouth soft fluffy center topped with

a LOT of whipped cream and masses of fresh fruit.

Absolutely scrumptious and well suited for a ''hot''

country such as Australia methinks.

Looking at the bottom of my screen I can see

that right now (1:12pm) it's 31 degrees cel. outside.

(Thank goodness that my old air-conditioner is still

holding on!)

Good grief! It's going to be another restless night.

Better get me wet socks ready.

This close to the end of the year, I would like

to jot down some thoughts.

Love is a choice.

It's not something we fall in to or out of.

Happiness is a choice.

It's not something we can buy or be traded out of.

Forgiveness is a choice.

It's not something others must do, it's something we need to do.

Caring is a choice.

It's not something we expect of others to do, it's something we

 need to freely give.

Compassion is a choice.

It's not something to be viewed as weakness, 

it's something to be viewed as strength.

Benevolence is a choice.

It's not something that belongs only to Christmas,

it's something to be practiced daily.

💗

For you who are reading this right now:

I wish you peace, love and much joy.

(Citizen Z)

about the image: Winter landscape, acrylic on canvas