We recently concluded the latest NR cruise, which went down the Rhine River. (Up, if we’re being scientifically correct–and why not?) I devoted my column on Tuesday to notes about this trip. And I have a few more notes for today.

Where was I? I can’t remember, but I’ll tell you this: Spring in the Rhineland was beautiful. The region was lush, gladdening, bursting with flowers–especially with lilacs. What is May for, if not lilacs?

If you have a chance to visit the Rhineland in spring, you should jump at it. Of course, spring elsewhere isn’t too shabby. The best may well be Washington, D.C.’s–brief as it is. Some years, it seems to last about three days. But those are miraculous days!

And I’ll put in a word for my home state of Michigan: Spring is an immense, surprising relief, between a bitter winter and an oppressive summer. (No one knows how hot Michigan can be in summer–they think of it as a cold, northern state. “If only,” you think in July.)

But why am I talking about the weather?

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And I’ll see you. This weekend, I will be in Egypt (Sharm El Sheikh), for a World Economic Forum conference. It’s basically Davos in the Middle East. You may remember my reports from the conference in Jordan (Dead Sea) last spring. I’ll report to you, in some form, when I return.

Until then . . .