Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I sincerely hope all of my readers are having a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.

I'm out of the country for my usual winter travel, as I do every year, so I do hope you all can forgive me for my lack of regular posting. I've been scruffed and commanded to rest and relax rather than doing my usual research and writing.

Mea culpa. As far as my partner is concerned, my vacation time is sacrosanct. I had to sneak away from him just to pen this brief message; the man is relentless!

Rest assured, when I return in the first week of January there will be plenty to discuss.

But that's neither here nor there—what matters today is that we spend time with our families, spread cheer and goodwill, and enjoy peace and quiet, however brief a reprieve we might have.

I wish you all the best. Enjoy good food, good company and a restful couple of weeks. We'll get back to the doom and gloom when I get home. Hopefully, I'll have recovered from the holiday dinner by then.

Happy holidays, my friends, and I wish you all a more hopeful New Year than many of us expect.

Solidarity wins.