Dateline: In the Shire, Indy, 16 December 2005

Leaving on a jet plane, won't say when I'll be back again.

Heading out with family to desert Southwest for week at B&B, and expect to stay busy climbing mountains, visiting ghost towns, etc.

When we get back, it's a scary crash on the Esquire piece on the Army and Marines (got my last phone interview today just before we leave for the airport: the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Ops) as Xmas looms, plus a quick one-day into DC for a joint appearance with Steve. Holidays will see us travel by car as far as Minnesota and back.

Meanwhile, my new personal assistant Steff will be moving the site to a safer and better locale, we'll rethink the newsletter format to make it easier for us to assemble, and we'll relaunch the blog and (perhaps) the newsletter early in the new year.

Til then, it's been fun typing away. Enjoy the holidays. Pray for loved ones in-theater (we'll be praying hard for my two nephews in Iraq), and remember how lucky we are to live in this country.

All my best,

Tom Barnett