On Veterans' Day weekend (November 9 and 10), I'll be leading a two-day writing workshop titled "'Fitted to the Matter': Turning to Verse, Turning to Prose." The workshop will be held at the Barred Owl Retreat in Leicester, Massachusetts, which is just outside Worcester. I've never taught here before, but my friend Baron has done so several times and has been urging me to get involved in the retreat's writing programs. He tells me it's a gorgeous house and garden with a lovely, like-minded poet-owner, and it's also easily accessible from Boston, Hartford, and northern New England.

I'm tossing out this idea to all you now so that you have a bit of time to think about your schedule. Veterans' Day is a three-day weekend, and you'd only be at the retreat for two of those days, so it wouldn't consume your entire holiday. And it would be so delightful to spend a couple of quiet, focused days with you before the winter storms are upon us.