Tom and I are leaving home for Belfast this morning to do our poetry-photo gig at the Belfast Poetry Festival, and then we are going to spend the night in Rockland and eat oysters in a restaurant and walk around aimlessly after dark. It's my birthday present from him, and I don't even care if it pours rain because we have always had fun walking around together in the pouring rain. We have been friends since we were 19 years old, and now that we have a 16-year-old son, we feel like we have known each other practically since infancy. Years and years of splashing in rain puddles are behind us, and possible ahead of us.

Anyway, maybe you'll be in Belfast and we'll see you there. If not, I'll tell you how it went.