Real Time View

  The trappings of the festive season are now all around us. Inescapable, it would seem. Choosing gifts, cards and the right wrapping paper. It’s all happening and for many of us, it’s not only the season of joy but a time to reflect. Where were we this time last year? A decade ago? And then there are the numerous business gatherings held at this time of year. Reluctant to throw around the word party and yet, for many enterprises, this is exactly how best to describe the occasion. Paper hats? Streamers? The clink of glasses? Perhaps not but regardless, there is no escaping what the season means for each of us.   For Margo and I there was our return from our sojourn in the South Pacific. Spending the last weeks of November in Sydney, Australia, watching as we did the weather turn from mildly warm to very warm, even as we kept an eye on the weather back home in Colorado. It seems an anachronism to view Santas in Sydney decked out in full Northern Hemisphere winter kit. Ringing bells an