The temperature went down to minus eighteen overnight and was slow to creep up to the point where venturing outdoors was worth the effort. Rachel and I went out and skied around the perimeter of the golf course, about four kilometres, when the temperature got to minus twelve, which was managable as long as we kept moving briskly. That's the furthest I've skied cross country, so far, and it left me feeling rather tired for a long evening, but reasonably free of aches and pains, which is pleasing.
We were invited to join friends of John and Rachel, two families related to each other, of Ukranian origin. It was lovely to be with a bi-lingual family, at home in different cultures and having a positive attitude towards the value of migration, similar to that which I have held since our years living in Saint Paul's. It was a night of fondues - cheese and chocolate, also marshmallows roasted by a log fire, which went down well with adults and kids alike.
We asang 'Auld Lang Syne' with champagne, and pulled crackers at midnight, and had fireworks outdoors afterwards, as did others in the valley below. Our host and his teenage sons ventured out with the temperature at minus twenty to set them off. Jasmine had playmates of her own age for the evening, but didn't make it as far as the fireworks. After a couple of toasted marshmallows, she surprised us by falling into a deep sleep, from which she couldn't be roused when we carried her to the car to drive home. The only reason I didn't fall asleep also was the great company and conversation - not conducted in competition with the TV, as we've experienced in other homes here, but around the fondue pot on the dining table, with the Times giant Boxing Day crossword being completed by many family contributors at one end as the evening progressed.
A New Year's Eve to recall with much pleasure.
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