Admittedly, it was decades ago that I was in Iran, during the last year of the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi regime, but I have never forgotten the beauty of the Imam Mosque.

On Christmas Eve, as always, St. Nick was in the sky, And looking down on land and sea with his most practiced eye, To search for landing venues for his reindeer and their sleigh.

I’m just back from a visit to pre-Christmas New York. Fifth avenue was bustling with shoppers.

There is an apple tree in my West Tisbury back yard. It bears no apples because cedar trees line Tiasquam Road and bring with them cedar-apple rust.

Well-wishing neighbors, family and friends streamed in and out of the West Tisbury home of Robert and Maggie Schwartz over the weekend as the couple prepared to move to a new home after 55 years.