Christmas cards are said to have been around since 1843. Well, not with me! I only became a recipient and reluctant sender of such cards when I settled in deepest Australian suburbia in 1985 after a Christmas-less and Christmas Card-less lifetime spent in some of the remotest corners of the world.
My suburban neighbours engaged in an annual 'look-I-received-more-cards-than-you-did' contest by stringing up their Christmas cards across their lounge room windows. With my competitive spirit aroused and short of 'doing a Mr Bean' and sending cards to myself, I began to keep the few cards I received each year until, a few years later, I was able to string an impressive-looking collection across my own window. 'Look I received more cards than you did!'
When asked by one neighbour why a Christmas card on display in 1997 had been signed, "With best wishes for 1989", I told him that some of my friends were dyslexic.
P.S. Bored in retirement? Start your own blog OR go to an ATM and, when the money comes out, scream "I Won! I Won!"
