Greetings to all CTPS members at this time of the year when we celebrate the birth of Christ. Let it be a time of good will for all of us, no matter what our personal beliefs or persuasions are. I trust that you will have a wonderful time with family and friends. For me it is a time that I have been looking forward to for some time. All three of our children will be with us this Christmas, together with our four grandchildren. Our eldest daughter, Clare, who arrives from England on Wednesday 7 December, was a member of the Pretoria Photographic Society while at school and had progressed to ‘Advanced’ status in the club. Today, as a ‘working Mom’, lack of time prevents her from taking many pictures. Hopefully she will make up for lost time during her three weeks in the fairest Cape. Our outing to Kalk Bay on 26 November was great. Cathy had ordered good weather and a fair number of our members turned up – some arriving as early as 05h00. Looking at the programme for next year, Cathy has some very exciting events lined up for us. Details will be given to you in good time because they will be popular outings and early booking will be necessary. We can always learn a great deal from our fellow photographers on these outings. Have any of you ever met my friend Murphy? He has quite a number of laws that he has written and most of these refer to our daily activities. Murphy says “If anything is going to go wrong, the thing that will cause the greatest distress, is the one that will go wrong”. This is certainly what has happened to me – for the last 3 days I haven’t been able to access any information on my computer and so haven’t been able to keep in touch with the CTPS’s webpages. I’m hoping to get our IT ‘expert’ at work to solve these problems for me, until then I’ll just have to remain in the dark ages. To end off this month’s letter, here are a few thoughts for you to take into the New Year. 1. What is popular is not always right. What is right is not always popular. 2. When I do right no one remembers, but when I do wrong, no one ever forgets. 3. It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice. 4. I don’t just believe in miracles, I depend on them. 5. What goes around, comes around. 6. United we stand, divided we fall. 7. Life’s a journey – enjoy the ride. 8. No one can make our dreams come true, only you. 9. Pain is temporary. Glory is forever. 10. Always set the trail. Never follow the path. Wishing you and your loved ones an enjoyable festive season and may 2012 be your best year yet!! Detlef Basel (Hon PSSA; APSSA)