Driving down a suburban street in Brisbane I am mesmerised by a tree I see to my right. I turn around, find a layby I can stop in and get down to photograph it. Yes the reds are upon us –

In the couple of days we were away in Sydney the Poincianas have opened up and the city is an erupting magnificence of christmas colours.

These flame trees are truly exceptional. They are head to toe red and glow in the sunlight.

A thoughtful husband putting a deep red rose by my bedside.

The Red are around metaphorically as well – I just finished “The Death of Stalin” by Sheila Fitzpatrick, a wonderful insight of him as a man and the after effects of his death on Russia and the world.

This period in history neatly fitting into the retelling of George Orwell’s story on https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/empire/id1639561921

How he goes from a policeman in Burma and hating how imperialism has brought misery to the people and the world to experiencing the Spanish Civil War and realising that totalitarian regimes like Stalin are just as bad.

I do love it when nature, events, books, podcasts and more align.