Chrimbo-limbo

We are reaching the combustive conclusion to that somewhat bizarre period between Christmas and the New year — the Norwegians have a rather lovely word for it, Romjul — where I am never quite sure upon waking if it is actually a weekend or if I need to check whether something interesting might be happening in the Premier League. 

If there's one thing I have learned over three decades in this country it is that there is an important difference between laws that exist and laws that are enforced. I'm hoping that this proposed prohibition has some teeth to it, as these globos chinos have become a real menace over the last five years or so. 

On the 24th I spotted one of these forking things sliding sideways across the valley in the now familiar manner. 

We are simply too high up here for them to ascend as intended and once launched in the centre of the city they have a tendency to seek out the trees and rooftops of El Panorama with some degree of inevitability. Three have come down in or immediately around our home on New Year's Eves, one making a fiery landfall on our roof.  

This year we're hoping to be able to get out and enjoy the arrival of the first decade of the millennium we actually all know to describe without this additional anxiety. 

After last year's conflagration near the arch, one has to imagine that the owners of popular bars and restaurants will be on hand to gently dissuade anyone looking to launch a globo tonight.