Our visit to Bali slightly threw my seasonal series but I’m happy to say I’m present once again, observing nature’s shift outside the window and beside me as I walk. Sunlight comes early and leaves late; there’s so many opportunities to be out and and about and yet we always retreat to home come midday – the sun is scorching. The gums that tower at the back of our house are a blessing in summer (a curse in winter) and right now they are shades of grey, tan and green; subtle tones in bright, white sun.

We are eating lots of cucumbers to cool the blood, sipping ice water and making salads to accompany our evening meals. Amidst it all we’re preparing for a Christmas that is so different to the ones depicted in most of our books. In comes as no surprise that Che and Poet adore Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle; an adaptation of the birth of Jesus set in the iconic Australian landscape.

Che has been asking about snow and why we never have it for Christmas. Isn’t it a enormous concept to grasp; that one side of the world is at the beach and the other side is huddled around the fire. A good lesson in opposites and a beautiful reminder that our world is, indeed, vast and wondrous.

This weekend, the last before school breaks, we’ll be making Christmas cards, choosing, chopping and carting home a tree, decorating with joy and sitting back to admire the inevitable wonkiness of real pine.

Cheers to a balmy summer!