It’s been a busy couple of months since I last posted. I had a stint in Cali, Colombia at Red Cross’ Global Community Resilience Forum, then followed by a gathering of the national Red Cross’ Preparedness and Recovery Teams in the Blue Mountains (which are still affected by the fires of last year, and following on from our meeting last year where we held it in Marysville, we try to put our money where our mouths are and contribute to the local disaster affected economies). In the midst of all this, I also turned 50!

I did think about  writing something about the siege in Martin Place in Sydney, the school shootings in Pakistan, and the horrible murder of the children in Cairns, but I’m now on holidays, taking a break in Germany with the family, and need to distance myself so that I can recharge for next year. Having said that I picked up Richard Ford’s new book, Well let me be Frank, which are four stories set in post H. Sandy New Jersey. Richard Ford is no stranger to setting novels against the backdrop of disaster. His 1990 novel, Wildlife is set against a wildfire that menaces a small town in Montana. Fire, and the threat is ever present against interpersonal challenges that emerge from a family falling apart (very Fordesque). I’m looking forward to the new novel.

I just wanted to write a short note thanking everyone for their support of this blog, people who read, people who comment. I still feel sometimes as though it is self indulgent, but is does help me make some sense of the disaster world. And if it can help a little with others making sense of it, so we don’t have to relearn the lessons again, that would be fabulous too.

Merry Christmas all, have a peaceful break