Dear Nick, About Hallmark cards: a) I've never sent one, and each card which I receive, I acknowledge with a writing of my own. b) I consider the frequency with which Hallmark cards are used to be: i) an index of loneliness and of the desire to communicate. ii) an index of the limited capacity of the sender to express himself and of the reader's limited capacity to understand what might be written to him. c) I acknowledge that simple, unadorned words "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year"often seem trite and empty. d) I have found, depending on context, that simple words can suddenly an unexpectedly acquire power and meaning. For example each time I reflect on it, I am overwhelmed by: 24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26 King James Version I could cite many other instances, many of them arising in a musical setting. e) I have observed that images, drawings, paintings, photographs have profound meaning in i) designating an event, a point of time in the past and ii) in conjuring up an unwavering present. f) Horatio: O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! Hamlet: And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. (Act 1, Scene 5) No, not EJM but Shakespeare.