Today finds me feeling rather down. Until now, the plan was for me and Serkan to rendezvous with my parents for Christmas at the old family house in Harlesden. We thought that might be wiser than me going up to cheshire or Mum and Dad coming to visit me here, pleasant though both may have been. The news of the rising infection rate in London has, however, now scuppered that: the last thing I want to do after such an awful year is to put my parents at risk, so we agreed this morning to spend Christmas apart. While I’m sure Serkan and I will make the most of it (he’s already started working out how to cook a turkey) it is nonetheless quite a blow. Chatting over the web is all well and good, but truth be told I was looking forward to a good, old fashioned parental cuddle. After such a bleak year, I think that’s what everyone needed after so many month physically apart, but I suppose it will have to wait a bit longer yet.