Sundays are for reading the paper

My habit of reading the Sunday paper, undisturbed, first thing Sunday morning, began when I was about 12 years old. I remember sitting at the family kitchen table with my dad, long after we finished breakfast of waffles and orange juice, poring over the pages of the Washington Post. Dad and I had an unspoken agreement on how to share the paper: front page, metro and sports for him, Style, comics and parade for me. After about half an hour, we’d switch sections a murmur a few highlights. If I started reading before he finished fixing breakfast (as I sometimes snuck the paper upstairs to read in bed) he implored I keep the sections in order.

This habit has remained with me through the years, evolving to include coffee and CNN. So I offer a few highlights from today’s Post.

Obviously big news of the day is the Redskins’ advance to the playoffs by defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I watched the game at a friend’s house, while many were at national restaurants and local watering holes.

Famine looms possible in Kenya. Often food-shortages are a by-product of war, but in peaceful Kenya long-term economic and agricultural development is in question.

Into the Metro section, DC government is making progress to improve our beleaguered correctional services for adults and youth.

From the Style section, a family tries to maintain normal with mom in Iraq. Journalist Anne Hull makes interesting comparisons between she and her brother, and is a typical aunt in permitting forbidden snacks and trips to the neighborhood pool.

And in a departure from the Travel section’s usual coverage of personal vacations to explore unknown territory, Gary Lee reports on a black family's reunion. His commentary was so insightful, I felt I was at the buffet.

Finally, Johnathan Yardley reviews debut novel The Dream Life of Sukhanov. Not usually interested in matters of the Soviet Union, because of this review I’ll skim it the next time I’m in Politics and Prose. (Buy independent).

Enjoy reading.