When you write a weekly column for 15 years, there comes a time when you have a column due, and only a handful of subjects you don’t want to write about in your knapsack. Judge for yourself whether you want to read about a stolen hat, a blocked intestine, a frozen underground pipe, or how cold it’s been the last two weeks. The last subject can be handled quickly. In January of 1994 the workmen showed up to handle some inside work at my home, and Raymond Holland, who has a fine sense of humor, said that “it was cold...