Christmas grumble...

Just got back from a road trip to Gosford and points west, via Canberra. The country is in poor shape from the drought and hundreds of kilometres of it is covered by thick smoke from the fires.

We were sitting having lunch in a cafe in Rutherglen on Tuesday. It was 37 deg outside. The air was thick with smoke. You could smell it inside the cafe and we could even see smoke drifting through the open door. We were eating salad and having cold drinks. The damn sound system was playing "Walking through a Winter Wonderland". Australia really needs to come up with its own Christmas imagery. Or at least toss away the sentimental Euro/USA images.

This photo was taken outside Rutherglen.