Well, another year, another late, late, late mailing of Christmas cards. For anyone anxiously awaiting our yearly update and Christmas wishes, we’re aiming, perhaps, to have it out before the end of Orthodox Christmas; if not then, definitely by the end of Epiphany.

Today we head down to Florida to celebrate Christmas with our new niece. She won’t remember it, but I’m sure there will be a sufficient photographic/video/holographic record to remind her later. At any rate, truffin.com is going to be dark until most like the middle of January.

To keep you occupied, I offer this tidbit from David Bayles and Ted Orland. In their book Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, they write:

The role of the university has always been to provide an education, which is a small but siginificant step removed from training. Training prepares you for a job; an education prepares you for life.

So, last night wasn’t first snow fall we’ve had this year, but it’s likely to the first one that lasts more than a day or two. Yesterday the ground and roads were bare (except for the leaves I never raked). After dark, the flurries started, and this morning there was 3-4 inches of the lovely white.

Given that we’re into December, the snow comes at no great surprise. But when I stepped outside to commence with the shoveling, I was greeted by a pleasant surprise indeed: The Snow Thrower Fairy had visited our corner. We’ve never been able to ascertain if this is the work of a city employee, a kind neighbor, or magical snow elves, but last year we began noticing that on mornings when a good amount of snow had fallen, Someone would come along and snowblow our sidewalks (see evidence above).

We don’t know who you are Snow Thrower Fairy, but THANK YOU!