Merry Christmas everyone from the crew of Curare.
Geoff spent Christmas day at Marina Estancilla in Valdivia working on a few boat chores, touring the river in the newly inflated dinghy and finishing it off with a wonderful lamb barbeque put on by the marina caretaker and his family and friends.
It seems strange to have classic iconic North America Christmas paraphernalia decorating houses and malls here. 
While the people are familiar with snow its odd to have images of snowmen and frosty flakes hanging in windows on one of the hottest days of the year. And the Santa Claus in the mall with the lineup of children was verging on bizarre. The mad rush to buy groceries and presents the day before Christmas seems to be a global event.
Meanwhile Linda and Jessie spent Christmas in a different time zone a few thousand miles away. While G was feasting on roasted lamb L was busy preparing a Christmas dinner for eight. The entire family celebrated at L's younger sister's house, the first time the family has been together for Christmas since 2006. Of course we all missed our mom, grandma and wife but it wasn't as difficult as I imagined. Even Jessie got to participate, mostly by getting in everyone's way, but mainly to help with the leftovers.
Best wishes to all for a happy holiday time.
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