Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our home in Chiangmai.  We are not going to have a white Christmas but there is definitely a cold snap that has taken over Northern Thailand. Temperatures have dipped down to single digits overnight in some areas and frost has been spotted this week in some higher areas. There was actually a mention of possible snow at one point but the meteorological guys in the know said that the country is too low an altitude for this to happen.

In much of the world, temperatures in the teens are not exactly uncommon and cause for concern! As one local Brit said this week, 15 Celsius is “lying on the beach” weather back in England. However, here it is a different story. Apparently over 65 provinces in the country have been declared disaster areas because the temperature fell below that magic number of 15, not Fahrenheit…15 degrees Celsius!  It definitely puts it in all in perspective.  But……it does rise to 26 degrees in the day which ain’t bad for December as far as this Canuck is concerned!

As the year comes to an end, we carry on up here in Chiangmai, oblivious to all the huge demonstrations in Bangkok. Except for the stories online and the pictures on the front pages of the local newspapers, we would have no idea that any of this was happening. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end. It’s too bad that such a beautiful country has to be spoiled by the continuous saga of politicians and their quest for power.  But I have sworn to myself that I will not get into politics or religion on this blog so I will end it there.  As a foreigner retired in this country, I really am on the sidelines watching the proceedings and have no interest in taking one side or the other.

We still love living in Asia after the last seven years and look forward to 2014 and our continuing exploration of the surrounding countryside.  Every day brings a new adventure and another reason for choosing to settle here. I hope everyone has a great holiday and some well-deserved R and R over the next few days.