There were stories — modest, stitched together from wolves seen at a distance, from summers when the river ran wild, from a grandfather who had once worked at a factory that later became an empty monument to different times. Between tales, someone would reach for the Internet on a small glowing device, searching “how the French wish joyeux Noël” or sending a quick image of a snowbound fox, as if the wide world could be folded into their palm and passed around like a candle.