Elephants communicate on their own frequency

I WAS obliged to leave our perch in the Sierra Nevada in south-east Spain and return to Ireland again for the pleasure of family celebration and the onus of family business.

Travelling the skies does not rest easy with me in these climate-crisis days. I pay my carbon offsets for each air mile but really I should be The Man in Seat 61, using railways to get me around the world. Trains are one of the least environmentally damaging and most pleasant ways to travel.

The brilliant website — www.seat61.com — provides timetables and fares for trains to almost anywhere. But, meanwhile, what a time to celebrate being at home! When the sun shines on Ireland, it leaves Spain in the shade.