“I’m looking for an expert in igloo filmatography. Do you have any recommendations?” asked CM, freshly arrived at the T family’s house after a long journey from Australia, where she headed up a major international charity.

I suggested that she look for someone with experience of taking photographs for ski holiday brochures. They’d offer expertise in dealing with the lighting problems associated with snow.

We then went outside and played croquet on the cliff-top lawn with the rest of family until it was time for me to set off to the school reunion on my multi-wheeled bike.

The venue for the reunion was a large hut in a wooded glade. Although the setting was rural, I couldn’t be certain that my bike would be safe leant against a tree, so I took it to pieces to store safely indoors.

The first person that I encountered inside was DB. This was quite a surprise since she had not been involved in any of the Facebook conversations about the reunion. Another woman gave me a big hug, then confessed that she had gate-crashed. She wasn’t even in our year. Where were all the people that I expected to see?

Then I spotted HD-B and PM (all the way from New Zealand). Now we were talking! I was most impressed that PM was now fluent in sign language and could convey coded messages back to family members at the other side of the world.