Rebecca's 20th birthday is on the 16th and she came up with a terrific idea for us each to give the other a present without creating any clutter, or packaging waste, or even having to pay postage costs.  The big news here at the moment is the terrible bushfires raging in Victoria.  The death toll is now expected to exceed 300...  whole communities have been wiped out.  The knowledge that at least one of the killer fires was deliberately started by someone makes it even harder to bear.

When I ask Rebecca what she wants for her birthday, she always says "nothing".  It's highly annoying when  you, the would-be giver, are also bereft of ideas.  I would complain more about her general unhelpfulness, except I am guilty of the same thing.  But tonight she came online and asked me to donate the money I'd spend on her birthday present to the Red Cross 2009 Victoria Bushfire Fund instead.  Both of us are fortunate enough to be in a position where we answer "nothing" or "I don't know" when we are asked what we want.  For people who have just lost everything they own in a bushfire, it will be a long time before they can say the same.