Christmas in the Summertime: #Thoughts

I grew up in the northern hemisphere, so summer holidays for me were from early June to early September: 3 months of holidays, water fights and watermelon.

Now I'm Down Under, which means that summer holidays are now a bit shorter, but with an added bonus - Christmas!

Chrismastime in the winter is magical - it literally lights up winter. I remember ice on the roads on Christmas Eve, and snow on my birthday a few weeks later. Christmas in Australia still has the lights, the trees and the gifts, but in my heart of hearts, I would prefer a white Christmas:

Watch Michael Buble: White Christmas.

It's funny though - although Christmas Day itself is in late December, many of the recent Christmas days recently have been cooler than expected- or had more dastardly weather like a hailstorm in 2010.

Christmas in Australia has it's own quirky songs:

Watch Colin Buchanan: Aussie Jingle Bells

The food in Australia at Christmas falls into 3 categories: Traditional, Cold or BBQ.

Traditional: The usual ham and turkey:

Cold: Seafood or salads and cold ham"

Or a good old Aussie Barbecue!

I loved my childhood wintry Christamases, and though I would prefer those today, I still value and enjoy the family time in the sun, with the flies, sunscreen, backyard cricket and the occasional hailstorm, making an Aussie "White Christmas".