I always get sad during the holiday break here in the northern hemisphere.
I always miss home and family, more than at any other time of the year.
So January is a bit of a climb out of the dark of a Belgian winter and, clearly, my blogging voice falters too.
I miss the road home (as per the photograph), the big messy familar family Christmas, and summer.
I miss the quiet joy of walking long beaches with my dog, good air, and crazy-friendly people.
Eight years is simply too long to stay away but I rarely understand it like that. Just as I collapse distance with my favourite telefoto lens, I also collapse or compress the passing of time.
But the 'telefoto' collapse doesn't work over the big holiday break ... not at all.
2012 has to be the year I go home. But meanwhile, all the very best things to you and yours in this new year.