In our end is our beginning
At Holyrood today, Tavish Scott was exercised by the vulnerability of families with new-born infants in this trying weather.
At Christmas, how topical. As I glanced outside the window, the snow was deep and crisp and even more persistent than usual.
As the first minister reminded us, this is now officially the coldest and harshest December on record.
Given that, the exchanges were mostly serious, sonorous and weather-related: discussion of issues like the fatal accident on the A9, broken bones from pavement falls, the lack of heating oil, the demand for salt and grit.
Mr Scott and Annabel Goldie pursued the FM on such matters.
Alex Salmond responded calmly - while noting, en passant, that there had now been incidents in England where roads, railways and airports had been closed.
Perhaps, he reflected, opposition leaders might care to reconsider the attacks which obliged Stewart Stevenson to stand down as transport minister when such closures afflicted Scotland.
Role models
I said "mostly". Iain Gray opted to pursue the issue of independence, drawing attention to the SNP website which cited the example of other small nations.
He used the familiar examples of Iceland and Ireland, suggesting that their recent economic problems undermined their potential as role-models for Scotland.
Then he turned to Montenegro - which declared independence in 2006.
Far from following an easy route to independence, he argued, the story of Montenegro was one of conflict, global and Balkan.
At the core of Mr Gray's argument was a suggestion that Mr Salmond was not just a rotten FM, but also a rotten Nationalist - by shelving the independence referendum.
At all points during Mr Gray's repeated, iterative questioning, Mr Salmond appeared utterly undisturbed.
Serene, in fact. Pausing once to suggest that Mr Gray might care to truncate the list of countries he chose to insult, pausing a second time to exemplify Norway, the first minister argued that folk in oil-wealthy Scotland would choose independence when, eventually, given the chance.
And there we have it for 2010. In our end is our beginning.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a guid New Year.
I'm 
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