And there were squirrels in the fields, tending their nuts....

Here it is Christmas week, and not a flake of snow anywhere here in Darkest Suburbia™...but the squirrels and the crows are out, and my holiday shopping is done (mostly via mail order). There are still cookies to be baked, but that's been delayed due to a winter cold - for which I've been sequestered this past week, as the symptoms crossed just far enough over into Purple Death territory that one can't truthfully pass the current screening questions people ask you about whether you have symptoms of the Purple Death.

Time now to go take refrigerator inventory, pay a bill or two, and perhaps put some Christmas music on the stereo. If I don't pop back in before the end of the week, may your winter-holiday-of-choice be as merry as can be managed, and let's raise a virtual glass (or mug, if you prefer; I think I hear some hot cocoa calling) to better times in the year to come.