EDitorial ± 1-Jan-2010

Twenty Ten

Any number of crumpled paper slips turn up in the kids' schoolbags, eg:

  • there has been an outbreak of head lice in your child's class, or
  • sign & return this slip to indicate that you have received your child's report, or
  • your child's year group is planning an educational daytrip to Dubai

One such note reared its wrinkled A5 head in mid-December, caught my eye, then was promptly filed and forgotten in The Pile Of No Return before it could be returned to whomever it may concern.

FF to New Year's Eve and Broom Acres is abuzz with lamb & lentils, rocky road, We Sing and the inescapable / inevitable / unbeatable Sock Game. Late evening and down-the-road Jon turns to me and asks:

(him) You still on for that bike ride tomorrow?
(me) Er, which one is that?
(him) You know, the sponsored one to Felixstowe for the juniors.
(me) Er, sure: what time are we off?
(him) Oh, around 8am.
(me) Er...

Chinese lanterns and snowball fight gone midnight, most folk gone by half one ish, sleeping arrangements and tidying up for another hour, into an unfamiliar bed around three.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Lo, it came to pass that my first proper glimpse of the new decade found me a-saddle, pointing the skinny Boardman tyres down the thin strip of un-iced road like a pier maniac rolling pennies into a Crompton Cakewalk. Only with less fun and much, much colder. Comfortably reached Felixstowe Leisure Centre by 9:45-ish, everyone's toes uncomfortably numb. Maybe take the easy option next year and go for the Christmas Day dip in the North Sea.