![El Jaleo](/images/4)
_"El Jaleo" by John Singer Sargent, [here](https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/13259)._

<span class="dropcap">The frost might</span> have killed the garden my daughter and I put in, and I'll have to warm up the car before taking her to school.  This is <span class="dropcap">This Republic of Letters</span>, annoyed that stubborn winter is making a grab for the weather.