Peace on Earth

I have just finished writing my New Year cards.  I have a troublesome gall bladder to thank for providing me with the opportunity to sit (very) still and reflect on the past year, scribble the names of those close and lick low-cholesterol envelopes.  I made my own cards this year – using a photograph I snapped of Baghdad’s green zone at dusk back in August. The picture is a cityscape dominated by trees, razor wire and pink bougainvillea competing for space and  to the left- caught aflame by the setting sun - a communications tower stands high. Very fitting for a communications specialist dedicated to peace and stability, but not your usual seasonal greetings card (although a clichéd dove is just visible on a branch).  I hope it will find a welcome place on the mantels of my friends alongside fat robins, snowmen and silhouetted camels.  And I hope it will provide some meaning, and a moment’s thought not just for those in Iraq, but for people everywhere for whom the threat of violence is a reality. It is probably ambitious, but I like to aim high - *Peace on Earth* is printed in each of my  cards.