It’s an unfamiliar season in the most disjointed year. I wrote about holiday traditions for my friends over at Huckberry. You can read it here. I always look forward to listening to my beloved A Child’s Christmas in Wales, read by the author, Dylan Thomas. I also appreciate traditions that involve eccentric recipes, velvet jackets and old bottles of Armagnac. What makes a worthwhile tradition? A good idea, passion and a healthy dose of perseverance. Can it involve roasting ducks? It can. Could it involve saunas or ice fishing? Yes indeed. Might it lead to snowshoeing or an Ernst Lubistch film festival? It can and it should. I hope you find a modest way to celebrate and we can get more ambitious when we meet around the big table next year.

Michael Willams and I are still recording Central Division. We talked about the giving season last week—theories of generosity, good presents and dreaded gifts. Then we interviewed the multi-talented Miles Fisher this week, which was a lot of fun. At this point you know the drill: Subscribe to The Contender and get the newsletter and all the podcasts. Or go in the deep end at Central Division and get all The Contender content and everything from A Continuous Lean, too. And that means all the archives, so you won’t miss anything. And, wait for it, you can give a subscription as a gift, to the young sartorialist in your life.

Hope you’re managing to enjoy the season! Let’s raise a glass to the light on the other side.