One mid-winter day off the coast of Massachusetts, the men of a mackerel schooner spotted a bottle with a note in it. Ot iz er, Edvard Ber, er kumt itst arop mit di trep. Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet. When a new bridge between two sovereign states of the United States has been completed, it is time for speech. Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego.
Life is difficult.
Good luck and a very Happy New Year to everyone. Hughes Moir is Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Nederland Community Library.