I need to stop reading the local papers...

A BABY narrowly escaped death when a bullet fired into an Upper Clapton flat
ricocheted around the room and came to rest between the tot's legs.

The 10-month-old child was lying on the floor of the lounge when the bullet
exploded through the ceiling and bounced off the walls.

The frantic mother, who was in the room at the time, found it lying just
millimetres from her baby and called police.

Yep. I now live in beautiful Clapton. Every night we hear the sirens. Yesterday, two gunshots as well. Lovely. Slightly disconcerted that there is a stretch of road around here called "murder mile".

I'm not exactly fearing for life and limb though. After all, the house we're living in has sat empty for years (with furniture and stuff in it) without getting burgled and vandalized. We seem to be situated in a bad neighborhood but a "good street". Neighbors are super nice. Worst case of crime we've encountered so far was a gang of neighborhood little girls picking apples from our yard. They thought the house was unoccupied and I gave them quite a scare when I appeared. When they heard that Gene and I came over from the States, they asked us, quite obviously, if we knew any stars, like Fifty Cents, and were very disappointed that we didn't.