Sunday Selections #460

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
  
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
 
The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
I usually run with a theme.

The weather here is still obscenely hot and dry.  The fires continue.   The fires have spread.  More states have been added to the long (and growing) list.  A pall of smoke hangs over my city and many others.  People and animals have lost their lives and their homes.  There is no rain in sight.

However I cannot (regretfully) change any of that.  Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

In the middle of the tragedies I have found splashes of beauty, colour, of quirky fun and hope -  which is where my focus is this week.

Again, this is not (despite its appearance), a photograph of sunset.  I took it some three hours before.  However, the skies were briefly clearer than they have been and it was beautiful despite the smoke.

The suburb closest to my kangaroo fix has big signs up telling us that 'Yarralumla does Christmas'.  It has done so in a simple and charming way by decorating most of the street trees.

 When we continued down to the lake, we smiled at the pelicans.  It was a stinking hot day and while we saw kangaroos they were relaxing under the trees and we didn't disturb them.

Driving into town I was tickled by this tradie's clever way of stashing his work boots.

A few days later his van was parked at the local shops and (with his permission) I took some more photos.

While we are a largely secular nation, there are Christmas decorations in all the shopping centres.

In this holiday period whatever, where-ever and however you celebrate (or don't) I hope your days and the year(s) to come are filled with love and laughter.