Hibernation

Absolutely wiped tonight.  The lack of light is getting to me earlier than usual, maybe because we got so little over the spring and "summer"...

... and I need to get up early tomorrow to package up my nephew's birthday present and get it ready for the post.  I can't quite believe he's going to be 5, although of course he went to school in September so that should have been some warning...

And while I was thinking about this, and bringing the last bit of A's birthday present home, I was listening to a podcast which was both wonderful and terrible, from US National Public Radio's Fresh Air programme; the interview is with Andrew Solomon, an author who has written a book called Far from the tree, about what happens if your children are very different from you.  They discuss three scenarios from the book - children born as a result of rape, Down's syndrome children, and children who become criminals (in this case, the author interviewed the parents of Dylan Klebold, one of the killers at Columbine).  It's sometimes a bit difficult to listen to and rather beautiful at the same time.   And there's a small family resonance - A's oldest cousin has Down's so it was interesting to hear that section of the podcast.