I’m in New Orleans this weekend for my grandson’s wedding. I checked my altimeter during my taxi ride in from the airport. Elevation was –2 feet. On a street corner in the French Quarter a cheerful ensemble was playing dixieland. The weather’s in tune too. This in one of several towns in the U.S. that are sui generis — nothing like them. Others that qualify: Aspen and Key West. I’m sure there are others. There are a lot of places I haven’t been to.

I’m skimping on reading the news this morning, but an opinion headline in the Washington Post caught my eye: “Washington has succumbed to dangerous groupthink oon China.” I’ll read it later.