Silhouettes at play

I took a deep breath and popped into town this afternoon.  A deep breath, because from just before Christmas to the end of the first week of January, town is usually c-r-a-z-y and to be avoided at all costs.  I'm not sure exactly how much the resident population swells by - I've heard people suggest the population of the town doubles - but for just 2 weeks of the year, parking is an issue, there are queues to do even simple things, the beach heaves with bodies and local nerves become frayed.  I've learned that it's just easier to avoid town and the beach over this period.  As I drove to town today there were hundreds of people on the beach and by the time I drove home - around tea-time (when I took this pic) - there were still too many for me.  Give them their time - we'll get our beach and our town back soon enough.

It's been an odd day......Mum's birthday.......she would have been 85 today and she's still in my thoughts every single day, even after almost 3 years without her.  This melancholy was balanced by a celebration with a former colleague, now living and working in Singapore but back in Nelson for a short visit.  This was the reason I headed to town and I'm so pleased I did.  K had put out the word that she'd be at the Freehouse  from mid afternoon - when I arrived there were so many people I haven't seen in a good few years who'd also turned up to catch up with K that it turned into a much bigger catch-up than I'd expected.  Fabulous :D