Editor's blog October 2007

Give up alcohol; drink red wine. Eat eggs; eggs are full of cholesterol. No sooner has one thing been advised than up pops another report proving just the opposite.

The global warming debate is just as confusing with wild claims, over simplifications (not to mention a summer which felt anything but globally warmed). The latest serious report says the world will soon - although no one is sure how soon is soon - be uninhabitable.

Nevertheless, some 90% of scientists seem to agree that global warming is caused by our burning more fossil fuels than we should leading to a build up of CO2 in the atmosphere which is heating the planet. Whether this process will continue or stabilise, whether we can reverse the damage, how long we have to do this or whether it is already too late are all still under debate.

What is sure, however, is that here in rural Normandy we have a privileged view of the glories of this planet that we have. I was going to write that Autumn, with its mists and sunsets and turning trees, the smell of wet leaves and bonfires, is my favourite season. But every season, as it arrives, is a favourite season. Winter brings a stark beauty to the landscape and the promise of huddling round the fire and dressing up warmly. The first signs of Spring, a bud on the Camellia, an early snowdrop, a change in the air, herald an annual miracle. Summer is always longed for with its endless evenings and lazy warmth.

I have lived in countries without seasons and missed them. And countries without a dawn or dusk. Although not by temperament an early riser, school timetables mean that I see the winter dawns and the slow awakening of another day, whatever joys or disappointments it may hold, is endlessly reassuring. Twilight - or, to use a perfect word, the gloaming - when so easily a “bush becomes a bear” and when the early scuttlings of night creatures break the silence, is always mysterious.

The future is uncertain, pause to appreciate the present.

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To those readers who have asked if there was an August and September edition of the Rendezvous, and to those who found both issues difficult to get hold of, the answer is: yes, we continue to print 10 000 copies a month but the magazine is now so popular that many of our distributors run out within the first few days of receiving their delivery. We are therefore extending the 24€ for 12 months (to a French address) subscription offer until the end of this month after which the price - along with the size of the magazine! - will rise.

Of course you can still pick up your free copy if you are quick off the mark or prepared to drive around looking for the magazine. But why not simply subscribe and get the Rendezvous early, delivered to your door? You will find the the subscription form on page 20 or here.