I HAD originally intended to discuss another topic for this column, but it is a relatively infrequent occurrence — once about every four years — that my regularly scheduled contribution actually falls on Christmas Day, and so I will indulge myself with a sort of break in the routine.

Only a sort, however; it is the nature of the sort of work I do, the visible stuff you see here as well as the things that are generally kept from public view, that a 'holiday' or a 'day off' is more an abstract concept than a reality. That's OK with me; with each passing year, my realization that there are far more days behind than there are ahead on my own personal timeline makes idleness a progressively less appealing luxury. But spare a kind thought for the people who bring you the news on days like today, and who would probably rather be doing something else.