The moment we rang in the new year Trixie and I were in separate countries, and hopefully that will be the last time that ever happens. Trixie worked most of the night at the coffee shop in Niagara Falls. Whenever I'm there, I go to work with her, and pull up a chair to the end of the counter nearest the door, and just sit there the whole time. I bring something to do or read, and when she's not serving customers we'll work on a Sudoku puzzle together.

Being in this particular Starbucks is like being in a quiet hallway and looking into a giant aquarium. Inside, it's quiet and calm. The space is small, but the ceiling is very high, so the music, when there is any playing, feels almost distant and muted. And the windows are very tall, and let in a lot of light in the daytime, but the view onto which they open is, curiously, far from scenic. Costume stores, wax museums, a cigar shop

I don't know if you have ever been to Niagara Falls. It's really an enigma of a place disguised as a tourist attraction. I speak of course, of the Canadian side - the

I think most people visit there expecting to be awed by the majesty of the falls, but it takes a certain kind of person to really get it and there aren't many of those left anymore.