"Merry Christmas, One and All"
25 December
"Come in, come in! and know me better, man! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Look upon me! You have never seen the like of me before!"
— Charles Dickens, of course.
"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” — Ebenezer Scrooge's Nephew
Whether you are receiving this as a subscriber to my “Whilst Walking Today” or my “1001 Species” Substack newsletters (both, I hope 🎅🏻), please accept my thanks for your support during the past year and my best wishes to you and yours for the year and years to come.
… and to finish, a fine tale for today:
And sir, fare you well in all your endeavors this coming year, now 4.5 billion years since the advent of life on this blessed celestial shore.
Merry Christmas Richard and best wishes in the New Year.