It has been an unusually — and delightfully! — busy week-before-Christmas at the Lose household. And I know exactly why that is — because for the first time in fourteen years we are surrounded by family! Which meant time with my parents over my birthday and a trip to Longwood Gardens and then a trip north to see a niece participate in the New Jersey Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker. What fun, all the way around! This has meant that I’ve missed a couple of posts of late, and yet it seems to me that a little more time to enjoy friends, family, and the holiday is a good trade. And so I’m going to leave...

When I think of crossword puzzles, I think almost immediately of two people. The first is my mother, who has delighted in doing crossword puzzles for as long as I can remember. (Which always came in handy when I was stumped for a Christmas gift for her. ☺) Whether sitting in the living room of our home or on the screened-in porch at the family cottage by Otsego Lake, my mom regularly has a book of crossword puzzles in hand. The second person I think of is my uncle, Franklin Fry, who worked late into the night, slept in each morning, and awoke to do the New York Times crossword…in pen. I suspect many of us know folks who loved the...