Dear Jacques, If this letter does not reach you, then it means that I may have come across some terrible misfortune between the time I started writing this letter and the time I finished it. However, if you are not reading this, then there wasn’t much point in my saying that first sentence. What I mean to say is that I hope you’re reading this. It doesn’t necessarily mean I have come across some terrible misfortune although I may have. What I mean to say is that, if you’re reading this, it means you’ve received this letter. Well, that’s obvious if you’re reading this…I haven’t started this out very well, have I? Let me put it this way. I will assume that you’re reading this; otherwise there’s no point in saying anything about this flock of starlings that has built a nest in my beard. And I will assume that…