Welcome back, Gentle Reader(s). Let us start off today’s post with a fun Pop Quiz. Which of the following two options do you think a plurality of the American populace might prefer to lead the country? A)  A delusional narcissistic racist misogynist pathological liar insurrectionist sexual predator grifter and convicted felon? Or, B)  A highly qualified, highly intelligent career public servant with four years on-the-job experience as Vice President who just happens to be an Indian/Black woman? If you picked option A then, congratulations—you are correct! Okay, not much of a pop quiz, I admit, and not much fun either, but the ‘whys’ and ‘wherefores’ of the question are worthy of some in-depth ponderation.

I am returned, Gentle Reader(s), to the City Indifferent after a month in the town of my birth. It was an enjoyable sojourn down south, but by the time I packed up for the long drive home I was very much ready to go. The burst of cool, dry, sunny autumnal weather that had taken hold around mid-October gradually gave away to a damp swampy vibe by the end of the month. While an extraordinary early fall blizzard was blowing through northern New Mexico in the first week of November, setting snowfall records across the region in the process, I was slogging through 85 degree temps and 85% humidity in New Orleans, returning dripping wet to Ink South after my alternating-day 25-mile bike rides and intervening Audubon Park perambulations. Time to initiate the transition from the Low and Wet back to the High and Dry.