My Impromptus today is a report. Or rather, it’s a series of notes from the Oslo Freedom Forum. Go here. Tomorrow, I’ll have Part II of these same notes. Now, let’s take a look at the mail.

Nothing can top the opening missive. It responds to my Impromptus of yesterday, which discussed the Israeli mission to rescue hostages in Gaza. A reader writes,

My youngest daughter — all of 22 — was the operations officer on that mission. Still can’t get her to clean her room . . .

Another note, about the blessings of democracy:

Jay,

I had the privilege of voting in the South Carolina primary election this morning. No AK-47s, no secret police, no poll intimidations. For all that is wrong with this country, it was truly a blessing to be able to cast my vote freely today!

Amen. (Some may object that voting in a free and fair election is a right, not a privilege. But I know exactly what the reader means. We are damn lucky, to live in a country where our rights are afforded.)

Yesterday, I had some notes on Jacksonville, Fla., and a smattering of photos. A reader writes,

Good morning, Jay: Your musings on Jacksonville took me back to 1981, when I took my first job after law school with a CPA firm in Jax (it was “Jax” then, too). At that time, it billed itself as the “Bold New City of the South.” Most of my friends in law school (University of Georgia) were from southern Georgia, so living in Jax allowed me to live close to that region, in a state with no income tax. Had I not married a woman who swore she’d never live in the South (we’re still married), I might still be there. The St. Johns River is a great fishery, the beaches are grand, and the city had a vibe.

I loved Jacksonville. Thanks for the memories.

In my notes, I mentioned the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, about which some readers have enthused. Evidently, it is — as Bush 41 would say — a point of light.

Responding to a Corner post, a reader has a language question: “Jay, you said ‘a historian.’ I wonder whether that should be ‘an historian.’ Please enlighten me.”

For years, beginning in high school, I wrestled with this question. Eventually, I made my peace with it: “Good writers use both. Good writers do both.” Why do I put those words in quotation marks? Because I heard Bill Buckley say them many times, about a variety of matters — matters about which there was a choice, rather than a clear-cut right-and-wrong.

I use both “a historian” and “an historian” — or “an historic event” or whatever. I go by ear, feel, instinct. It’s our language, remember. Often, we write it down the way we say it.

So, on this question, I am “latitudinarian” (again, channeling Bill).