The clouds have helped to keep the evening air mild, and it may remain pleasant for many hours. The moon being not long past the full, once it has risen there will be that diffuse light which adds so much to my enjoyment of the night. The cat and I will probably be hanging around outdoors for a while. I think I'll wait until the neighbors have let their fires go out and the smell of wood smoke is gone, though, and their holiday lights have been turned off.
Speaking of light, this advance in solar cell design builds cells that can covert more than 40% of the energy in sunlight into electricity, potentially bringing the cost of solar power down to the range of current consumer prices for conventionally generated electricity, about 8-10 cents per KWH. The cells could be in production within a year.