La Familia

Bill arrived last night at 9:35 and P.K. showed up this morning. A friend of Bill's has already dropped by. Energy! I like having young people and small children (the brother and sister across the street are gems) around, and I've never understood people who don't. 

Bill woke up early and assembled the Christmas tree. I got out the ornaments. Bill, P.K., visitors, and I will slowly but surely add them to the tree over the next 10 days. It's a nice way for the tree to take shape. After Laura's death, it wasn't easy for any of us to do the traditional buy-a-tree-one-night-and-decorate-it-the-next-morning thing. But, we all want a tree, so we do it this way. A few years ago, I found a great artificial model with lights already installed. It opens like an umbrella. Plug it in and -- voila! -- we have our tree! Sometimes, ingenuity trumps tradition.

Killian's Read: Drama City (George Pelecanos). Hard hitting novel about "the life" and those who try to escape it. Pelecanos -- a regular writer for The Wire -- produces one of his best and evokes sympathy for even the most reprehensible characters.