December 2007

  
 

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I LOVE THE SMELL OF RUBBER ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

  
       

 

 

 

I grew up in a family of four boys and the smell of rubber is definitely the smell of Christmas. I can smell and picture the lounge room as I write - pillow slips with a new pair of flippers or goggles, some beach bats, buckets and spades, a toy bulldozer and dump truck, or a new bike standing up against the wall.

I believe in Father Christmas. (In fact I believe in the trinity - Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.) All those years ago, in the middle of the night, he'd filled up the pillow slips, eat his cake and sip his drink for the delight, several hours later, of watching four small boys, wide eyed as they started opening their presents. For weeks before there'd be the tension of anticipation, 'what's he going to bring?'

We were never disappointed. In his time be bought 4 bikes, a couple of cricket bats, tennis racquets accompanied by a ball on an elastic string ... What a guy. He was god. No wonder the named a religion after him.

 

Then he did it again for my own children Jo and Lisa. You'd watch their eyes boggling as they opened their presents and know that the belief had been passed on down: the great man had quietly done his work and then slipped away under cover of darkness, the presents delivered without expectation of gratitude, just the look on a kid's face as they were opened up.

 

This year he'll be doing his work up on the Gold Coast. Here's what the girls looked like last time we were there at Christmas time. 29 years later the little fella will be with us celebrating his 2nd Christmas.

 

The magic gets passed on down to another generation: no manuals, no strategic plan, no courses to attend, no meetings or minutes, just a seed planted deep into our cultural psyche that keeps growing.

 

In the next few days the old bloke will be loading up the truck, ready to spread his magic again.

Yep, there is a Father Christmas and I know that when you're sitting around the tree opening your presents you'll be thinking of him.

 

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and have a happy Christmas.

 

I'm still dreaming of the Triumph in the skies.

 

 

Regards

 

John Miller

 

 

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