Very white and ridiculously friendly

(No, I'm not describing my dog, though the words certainly do just that.) I'm enjoying the view of Iowa through the eyes of our now east-coast-dwelling son, who hasn't been home in six months. Home is very snowy. We're getting another 3-6 inches as I write, and this one looks heavy. New Haven had no snow -- none! -- when Noah left there on Christmas Day.

Apparently, business transactions in some parts of Connecticut don't have that peculiarly midwestern flavor. N's exclamation after a bank stop: "People are ridiculously friendly here!" It's true. They are. We'd just stopped noticing.

Fellow travelers, please take care out there, especially all of you returning to Chicago this weekend for the upcoming exams whose name shall not be spoken. Know that I hold you in my prayers.