Yes, his eventual shot went in off Fabian Schar, but the briskness and intensity of Scotland’s counter was electrifying.

It had a hurried urgency and also the briskness of rough-and-tumble triumph.

Although somber and unflashy in tone, the hearings have been characterized by something almost unheard of in this kind of congressional forum: briskness.

Sometimes, as in a Polonaise with panache at the start of the Act III ball, the briskness was right; sometimes it felt spirited but faceless, simply too lightweight.

Perhaps Saturday, in its often-bright briskness, its breezes and below-average temperatures, gave us a nostalgic glimpse of how our ancestors once experienced the long Thanksgiving weekend.