IF you have not yet sent all your Christmas cards, or are still waiting for one from a far-flung friend or relative, you do not have many chances left - perhaps in more ways than one.
Yesterday was the busiest day of the year for Royal Mail's sorting offices - Glasgow alone handled 2.6m items, with the total for Scotland double that figure.
The end is in sight for those beleaguered workers, as the last recommended posting day for items to be delivered in time for Christmas is Saturday.
Those massive numbers underline the strength of the tradition of the sending and receiving of Christmas cards, which can be dated back to the 1840s. But a growing number are turning to electronic communications - email, Twitter, Facebook and the like - to convey seasonal greetings, sometimes with a donation to good causes to offset the non-purchase of charity cards.
Whether we receive a seasonal drawing of a robin, snowman or a Nativity scene through the letterbox, or a message through our computers or smartphones, the important thing is to keep in touch at this special time of year. As with Christmas presents, it's the thought that counts.
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It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
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We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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