Happy New Year

The New Year beckons. Our main physical adventures of the last two days, beyond feasting, have been walks on Hampstead Heath. Tomorrow, on the 27th, trains in Britain begin to run again after the rather sweet Christmas shutdown. We're heading for our village in France. A weak broadband signal seeps out from the church tower, but France Telecom denies all knowledge of it when we enquire so we make do with a feeble and slow connection through the copper phonelines. I look forward to a period of diconnectedness, from technology and the news agenda at least, tuning in to the hills, the sky, the weather, the river and the wildlife, and a few fine books instead.
This blog may go quiet ... but if you have a good web connection yourself, you might try this link in the meantime, to a story by Le Clezio our new French Nobel Prizewinner. Intended for children, it's a new year present from the magazine Archipelago in a brief resurgence from its dormancy.
Happy New Year!