Dear Kevin: I’m in Beijing now, but wanted to say — your blogging sanity and clarity is even more appreciated from this distance. I can’t possibly read everything that’s out there, so I’ve had to whittle my Washington-centric reading; you’re tops.

I hope you’ll forgive a moment of dog-blogging. This is Hua Hua, a Pekingese from northern Beijing. Like most Chinese dogs, his name is a single syllable repeated twice. We met while I was jogging around Lake Houhai.

I asked what it’d be like trying to extract the essential information from Obama-McCain polling results without you, Kevin. He said, “Ruff.” I totally agree.

Christina Larson

Christina Larson is a Washington Monthly contributing editor and an award-winning science and environment journalist who has reported from five continents.