Once the snow stops snowing and the mail finishes mailing, we'll be heading south into the land of commerce, colleges, liberal politics, and large grey squirrels, with a quick detour along the way for Vietnamese noodles and whatever emergency poodle pit-stops become necessary. As I drop all literary activities to assume my holiday sous-chef duties, my notes to you will no doubt become sporadic incomplete sentences packed with nouns and ambiguous import. But you will be too busy to miss them, which is just the way things should be. Have a lovely holiday.