As Hanukkah draws to a close and Christmas and Kwanzaa crouch at the door, as the old year passes away, our staff have scattered to the winds to celebrate our time with family and friends. The coldest days of winter are yet before us here in Washington, DC, but the days begin to lengthen, and spring will follow winter as surely as the new year follows the old.

To all of our friends (and friends to be) around the world, to those on different calendars with holidays yet to come or in a different hemisphere with full summer upon them, to those celebrating different holidays or none at all, and from the many places we ourselves call home, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.