Happy and sad...

Today 3000 miles feels like a million.
Christmas came early for my son and his wife with the arrival of their second child - a son, Lucas. I got a message to call my son on the answering machine at about 10:30am my time, seven and half hours after the birth and it took me another ninety minutes to track him down. Of course in tracking him down I heard the news from someone else. Distance does that. Time-shifts news.
So I am happy to have a second grandson, and my third grandchild and sad that I am so far away physically from them. My trip to England, which was planned for two weeks after the due date of 2nd January, now seems too distant and I'll have to find a means of bringing it forward.
Excitement is similar to a virus - contagious if you are within touching distance. For now virtual touching is what I have and that comes with the territory and my decision to be an Englisman in Boston.