Some would say it makes poetic sense because his life was so closely tied to his cartoon strip that once Peanuts signed off he had nothing left to live for. Others would say he led a rich, full life and it was just his time. Still others are sitting around wondering why today’s strip feels like déja vu and Charlie Brown hasn‘t grown up one bit in the past fifty years, better yet replaced Lucy with a kicking tee so he could boot the damned football already. Good grief!

     A lot of people have been talking about what a strange coincidence this is, as if odd things don’t happen all the time. Well of course they do. How else to explain the grocery store checker running out of register tape every time you get to the front of the line? Or the good fortune of my not having been born in France since I speak English? Or that the very same weekend Schultz went to that great security blanket in the sky Jim Varney, the star of "Ernest Goes to Camp" and "Ernest Goes to School", was cast in his final role: "Ernest Goes to Meet His Maker"?

     Here’s a little tip to help you tell the difference: Think of karma as the reason Linda Tripp gets so much flack from late night talk show hosts, luck being the reason you drove 70 mph in a 35 zone without getting a ticket or killing that old lady who tried to cross the street, probability being the odds of Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense getting a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Academy Awards, and coincidence explaining how so many couples die within months of each other like West Palm Beach retirement lemmings after having been married for umpteen years.

     While this sounds like a bad drawing room farce, it isn’t. Hell, even Neil Simon couldn’t make this one up, though if he did they’d live in Brighton Beach, not Russia. Luckily Dasha and Masha cleaned up their conjoined act and straightened themselves out. Or straightened herself out. I’m not sure which it is because Strunk and White forgot to cover this little grammar problem. Either way, it’s a good thing they did since not only do they feel better for it, but so do the bartenders at the Pilsner and Piroshki. It can’t be good for business to have your customers see two people sitting at the bar who, when they stand up, turn out to be joined at the trunk with two legs, two heads, and four arms. Well, not before the fourth shot of vodka anyway.