Sgargarozzare!

An Italian word, meaning "to eat with joy, with no intention of stopping" and I picture a huge Italian family at Christmas, seated at a long run of tables, on mismatched chairs, people of all ages - babies through to white haired Nonnas - laughing and eating and drinking.
There are around 1000 of you every day, who read this blog, friends from all over the globe.
Maybe you have been able to enjoy a sense of sgargarozzare  this season, maybe not.
You may have eaten your Christmas meal with a host of family members or close friends
Or perhaps served up meals in church halls, hostels, or school halls, to the homeless, the hungry and the needy.
Or sat with a loved one who is too sick to appreciate all the festivities
Maybe you've been with just one other special person and had a quieter day
Perhaps this year has been tinged with a sadness, because someone precious is no longer at the table with you.
If you're in the Antipodes, lunch may have been on the beach - Canadian and Scandinavian readers will have dressed warmly and perhaps had to shift the snow from the path.
Perhaps you have been busy with work in the services - [the emergency services, the motorway services, the church services]
Or of a different faith, or none, perhaps Christmas isn't such a big deal.
Wherever you are, however you have spent your Christmas, I pray you will have had good food to eat, and had a day of joyful moments.
Thank you for reading Tracing Rainbows - I raise my glass to you, and echo Tiny Tim's Christmas Toast "God bless us, every one!"