With the National Weather Service predicting a 100-percent chance of snow overnight Thursday into Friday afternoon, schools here have begun to announce closures.

When you think of vodka’s origins, it’s likely what comes to mind is some hardscrabble Polish steppe or an inhospitable Siberian plain. After all, the word vodka comes from the Russian translation of water: voda. Certainly, an unlikely association of this distilled spirit’s provenance would be the verdant and eye-wateringly expensive village of Sagaponack.

It's seal-watching season in Montauk.