Francis, we are in the last tight squeeze of the semester. One more day of classes for me and then exams next week. I was speaking to a student yesterday about this time of year. She was saying that she always feels stressed at the end of the fall semester, what with finals and the holidays; and how she finds the holidays difficult, being neither religious nor much for consumerism. I offered that it was also a difficult time for some because we are going into the dark time of the year, but then mentioned the first line from Theodore Roethke’s poem of similar title: “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” I think there is some comfort if we see this time of year as a time of reflection and re-visioning.