Despair is the natural child of humanism.

John Lennon's Imagine is an anthem of secular humanism.

If you try hard to imagine you can't hear, you'll grow deaf. (based on The Magician's Nephew)

It can be very hard for someone who really is deaf to be as sociable as they would like to be. 

I love watching people be sociable with others, even if they are not naturally that way inclined, and building rapport with them.

To have a good rapport with one's children, helps to keep the household running smoothly. 

"She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." -- Proverbs 31:27

I dare not indulge in too much idleness, when there are deadlines to observe to get things done. 

One thing I love about holidays (which I'm currently enjoying), is having no deadlines, apart from perhaps one today - making it to the paddle steamer, the Pyap on time!

A long time ago during holidays with my family, I distinctly remember travelling on a paddle steamer called the Pyap, on the Murray River, I think it was.    

Indeed, Pyap, the paddle steamer is on the Murray River - located at Pioneer Settlement, in Swan Hill, where I took my family for a holiday.

Another river, the Nepean, which flows through Penrith, NSW, has its own paddle steamer, called the Nepean Belle, & which is used for celebrations, Christmas parties and as a tourist attraction. 

I've got all my Christmas presents sorted early. (For family and friends, that is.) 

Our recent trip and the ride on the paddle steamer was one of the birthday presents for my wife!

Today, we went on a trip to visit ANSTO, in Sydney, where they make isotopes for medical purposes, in Australia, New Zealand & in some of the Pacific Islands.