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Friday, December 24, 2004

Merry Christmas 

Just a quick note to wish you all a very merry Christmas (or a happy holiday, if you're that way inclined) as well as a great 2005.

I note with interest that a fair proportion of my American readers are at the moment freezing in the run up to Christmas that might turn out to be a bit too white for everyone's liking. I, on the other hand, am sitting in the study behind my computer, looking out the window at a grey cloudy sky. It's a humid, muggy day, with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius, and a distinct possibility of a storm - or at least rain - later on tonight. To be honest, I'm not sure which type of Christmas is better, and I say that having experience both, with many a cool, snowy Christmas in Krakow (having said that, the Polish climate is more temperate than the so called continental climate that most of the North American landmass enjoys, if "enjoy" is the right word).

Thank you to all of you - my regular and less regular readers, as well as my fellow bloggers (and there is a large overlap between the two groups) - for coming here and coming back, for your comments and your criticisms, your links and your support, for your "virtual" friendship. On these sorts of occasions I tend to wallow in cliches, but it has been an amazing ride from the very first day on 31 March 2004 when I posted my first few words. I love writing and I would have been blogging even if I only were to have a dozen readers every day (although I probably wouldn't blog as much); the fact that there are now a few thousand of you every day is an unexpected - and very pleasant - bonus.

Blogging will be very light over the next few days, as various Christmas family gatherings take precedence, and on the Boxing Day I'm flying off with Mrs Chrenkoff for a brief holiday, the first one since our honeymoon some two and a half years ago. I'll try to find an internet cafe up in Airlie Beach, and if Mrs Chrenkoff will allow, I might post (although the preparation of the next "Good news from Iraq" will have to take precedence in my online time - James Taranto from the "Opinion Journal" is a hard taskmaster and so the next installment will be available of Monday, 3 January 2005). Normal blogging will resume on Sunday, 2 January when I'm back in Brisbane. So please, definitely do come back in the new year.

Sometime before then it's likely that the blog will hit its first one million visits. More likely than not, I won't be anywhere near a computer to know the exact moment when that happens and celebrate. However, it won't detract from my satisfaction at reaching this milestone. So thank you once again to all of you who made it possible.

Merry Christmas! Wesolych Swiat!

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