Happy Australia Day

We live on an island continent, but no man should be an island  alone, and to share one’s dreams with such a brilliant man  as Lord R.e Taylor is everything , and to have been able to show him,  the beauty of Australia is always such a joy. We live in Redbank Plains, who really knows where that is! Well, its Southeast Queensland just 45 kilometers from Brisbane. Living is such a pleasure;  we are surrounded by everything we need. Major shopping centers all around, warm, friendly and generous people! Beautiful parks and gardens, so many that our dog Brindle-Boy-Taylor cannot wait to get in the car and explore them all. In my sun setting years my country is extremely magnanimous to me, and I thank this incredibly generous government with all my heart. 

Once, like all Australians I wanted to travel the world, and did so quite often, Covid certainly set us all back in our tracks, but maybe it has shown us what we have here. This country offers so much and is so diversified, it is no longer a country of kangaroos and koalas, but a thriving nation that takes care of its people, and as I do to all of you, reaches out its arms in friendship and love,

Christmas 2021 and New Year Newsletter 
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2021 has sadly turned out to be a  horrible Year for so many.   Luckily December is here, and let us pray 2022 is a safer, happier, and prosperous year for people of all nations and religions. A special distance hug of warmth to all our Shadowlight Publishing loyal followers and our supportive close friends and family; we wish you all a loving, secure, and safe Holiday Season. 

We all celebrate this time of the Year many different ways; here in Australia, it is a traditional hot Summer Christmas. Not the Christmas Lord R.e.Taylor remembers in Pennsylvania. He certainly misses the snow and all the beauty of a white Christmas. 

Here in Australia, the heat can be intense, so often a summer of contrasting weather heat, rain fires, or floods. Still, we survive and overcome so many obstacles. In our Supermarkets Tacky decorations, and then in complete contrast Shopping Malls, providing incredible holiday nd selling Christmas decorations in early October, so that by December one scrambles for what is left to decorate the house. Gifts and treats so widely advertised that are no longer available by early December. 

I fondly remember past Christmas Day celebrations with my dear parents, where our paper Christmas hats became soaking wet, and no air conditioning existed. 

Luckily for Rob, we have air conditioning everywhere, but he finds it weird to go to the beach instead of digging his car out of the snow.

Many Australians still celebrate with traditional Christmas dinner, but times are changing, and now it is also trendy to have a barbie or prawns and a beer at the beach. 

It is remarkable to think that no matter our religion or what country we live in at this time of the Year, we all get together with family and friends. Covid may have changed our lives in so many ways, but the love of family and friends can unite us all in this time of unexpected adversity.

This Year, we offer our deepest sympathy for those who have lost loved ones worldwide due to Covid. No doubt, once again, it has been a year to forget for so many of us, families unable to be together, businesses destroyed, and prices are rising sky high. It will never be the world we used to know, but we are here, and we have survived.

To all in America who have suffered unbelievable devastation due to the tornados destroying all you own, we weep with you and pray for better times ahead and the strength for you all to pick up the pieces and start again. Easy to say, of course, so many miles away! I wrote a song about loss at the end of my Musical” Just by Bloomie’s” The central verse goes:
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“Such sadness such pain an aching, crying heart, a striving a needing, a playing a part, loneliness beyond compare, and desperate crying despair. A trying to survive, a staying alive, a standing up to face whatever life sends, an ending, a beginning a longing for a friend, a friend, a friend. 

It then repeats the chorus (which is so appropriate for so many of us at this time!) “Let me live, let me live, let me start again, happy, happy, lighthearted and free, so thankful we’re here and knowing, we’re alive, We’re alive, WE’RE ALIVE.”

(I did change the wording in the chorus a little to fit the times.)

Have the best Holiday Season you can, dear friends?
May 2022 be a much better year! We sure do need it! 
PEACE ON EARTH with the unexpected new addition. STAY SAFE!
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Love to All 
Liz and Rob