2004 was a good year for me on the whole. I feel like I’ve done quite a lot, seen a fair bit and moved on in life – this time last year I was on the other side of the planet and I’ve gone from there to a new home and now to a new job. And, of course, in March I’ll become a father so I can predict with certainty that 2005 is going to bring some interesting times.

New Year’s Day felt like a good time to get out into the countryside and go for a walk and some fresh air, although neither Polly nor I have been over-indulging that much this year. As it happens we didn’t walk too far anyway, climbing Glastonbury Tor was enough for us both. As we stood at the top of the Tor looking out across fields and hills of Somerset I thought for a moment that I could feel the mystical power of the Earth coursing through the ley lines beneath, then I realised it was just the howling wind and the rain and the blood rushing to my head as I rested after the climb. It’s quite steep, you know.

alt="[Glastonbury Tor under a grey sky]"
title="The Tor"
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We took a stroll through the town, just enough to inhale the scent of incense and admire the cutesy little new-age shops and stuff. At least I know where to go next time I need a life-sized Buddha statue or some healing crystals. (Polly wondered what the locals do when they need a pint of milk.) We stopped in Wells, too, and walked around the Bishop’s Palace admiring the mediaeval splendour and the swans gliding haughtily round the moat, but we were eventually driven back to the car by the rain.

alt="[Two swans in the Moat around the Bishop's Palace, Wells]"
title="Swans on the Moat"
height="307"
width="410" />

There seemed something fitting about visiting places steeped in history at the start of a new year and a new phase in life. I could probably say something really deep now, but I won’t. Have a good one, wherever you are.