On Christian charity

Last Monday, an F/A-18D Hornet crashed into a neighborhood near MCAS Miramar in San Diego. The pilot ejected shortly before impact as he was trying to land his disabled plane. Tragically, the crash claimed the lives of four members of the Yoon family: Young Mi Yoon, her 15-month-old daughter and her two-month-old daughter Rachel, and Mrs. Yoon's mother. The father, Dong Yun Yoon, has displayed remarkable courage and faith. Of the Marine aviator, Yoon stated, "I pray for him not to suffer for this action. I know he's one of our treasures for our country. ... I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could."

Santa

Mapquest or Garmin or Onstar or somebody is running an advert about a call from very young children trying to find out where Santa is on Christmas Eve using their miserable digital services. And, yes, it's cute. Damnably so.

And so, Children and Santa. Why does it capture the imagination so? Or, to put the matter squarely, why is it that telling whoppers to little people is so charming? I mean, I suspect they know what's going on, and they're in on it. They get the warm gooey waves of charm sweeping back and forth through them about it, too. The little people are as caught up in the cuteness of it as we are.

But what is it about a fantastic whopper that is cute? "You better get upstairs or purple meanies will snatch you away to a far away land called Massachusetts and eat all your toes." And the the little bastards just gush with glee.

Naturally, there's a phase in everyone's life where people are telling you gigantic whoppers. One tall tale after another. Fibs and fantasies. Must be a weird time.

Highways and hillsides

I like driving Route 9 from Old Saybrook to Middletown. It's one place where a man can drive like a man, —and the road has curves like a woman.