December 2023

December 2023

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. And also a good Hanukkah, which came early
this year.

The Jewish side of my family has a great Hanukkah tradition; they all give a book to each
other on the first night of Hanukkah. Then two books on the second night, four on the
third night, eight on the fifth, and so forth until the eighth and last night when they give 64
books to each other—for a total of 117! What a great tradition! Everyone wins—especially
the authors.

The Twelve Days of Christmas should be celebrated the same way. That would be a total
of 1,032 books on the twelfth day of Christmas—times the number of people in your
family. Hey, better than a partridge in a pear tree. Right?

Anyway, the holidays can be as much stress as they are fun, but if you remember that
you’re celebrating Jesus’ birthday, and if you keep the wine rack and liquor cabinet
stocked, you’ll get through it. These are what we call First World problems. I spent
Christmas 1967 in Vietnam. We prayed that the truce would hold for 24 hours and that the
helicopter delivering Christmas dinner to the troops in the field would make it. I try to
remember this every year.

And in conclusion, I want to wish all my readers—even my critics—a happy and joyous
Christmas. And for the New Year, good health, good friends, good times, good libations,
and above all peace on Earth, good will toward men. And a very big thank you to the men
and women in our armed forces, especially those far from home. We are with you.

See you next year.

Sincerely,