Gloom, despair and agony on me!

OK, so I am not original. This is the time of year I have to fight to keep from sliding into an ugly mood. Today is probably the last nice day we will have for a while. Rain tonight, continuing through the week and the temperatures go south Thursday. Just got back from walking the dog, enjoying it while I can. I hate that it gets dark so early and light so late. I hate the cold. I am having guilt feelings about not being the "good son": that I should be doing more for my parents. Christmas is great, having family together, but the logistics of getting there is a pain in the butt. Iraq is so depressing that I try not to think about it. So much for my bitching.

Brad did stay the night Saturday (yea!), but went home Sunday morning. Sue and I did some shopping Sunday, but were home by about 1:00 and watched most of the football game. The Ram's have won one in a row. It was just me, Sue and Kris for dinner, so we ordered pizza.

I have just finished American Gospel, a very well written history of the faith of the men who have led our Nation, from Washington and Jefferson through Regan, and the delicate balance they have maintained, separating their personal beliefs from what Jon Meacham calls the "public religion". It is a good companion piece to Danforth's Faith and Politics, which argues that religion should be a uniting rather than a dividing force in our public discourse. Next is The Devil Knows How to Ride, which is the story of William Quantrill.

I have two or three books on my Christmas list and still haven't read everything I got last Christmas. Against my better judgment, I have signed up for two winter courses at LLI: A follow-up course on immigration, which examines the experiences of various groups as they came to America and tried to assimilate, and semester two of my Civil War class.