This is my study, with the first coat of finish on the floors. The floorboards are fir, which has reddened up beautifully, and I love the contrast with the blue and white walls.

On the windowsills are stones from Isle au Haut, off the coast of Stonington. They were among the few decorative items that did not go into storage when we moved from Harmony. I just couldn't bear to give them up. They are sea-smooth and heavy, slightly pockmarked, and the color of slate tinged with blue--a source of peace for both eye and hand. Sometimes I think hefting those stones got me through last winter's despair.

Today I'll give the floors a second coat of finish, touch up some ceiling paint in the living room, copy out a few more Levine poems, read Mansfield Park over peanut butter and crackers in the new dining room, and listen to the new quiet in the walled kitchen.

Suddenly a match flares, I see
there are only us two, 

you and me, alone together in the great room
of the night world, two laborers
with nothing to do,

so I lean to the little flame and light my Lucky
and thank you, comrade, and again
we are in the dark. 

[from "Today and Two Thousand Years from Now" by Philip Levine]