I’m not a Christian, exactly, but I do believe in the winter solstice celebration of lights. The older I get, the closer I feel to ancestral rituals involving trees and bonfires.

Vermont’s aging population is pleading for help up there, and people who want to work in this country are being beaten back at the Rio Grande. Go figure.

Anyone seeking an antidote to pervasive fear may find it in focusing on the good that might be coming our way right now — that way we can receive it, spread it around, and give it life.