Today I am going to start tearing out summer vegetable plants--tomatoes, mostly, but other exhausted things also--and then Tom and I will start planning the architecture of next spring's front-yard farm. I think we'll be moving toward raised beds interspersed with flagstone pathways, and he's got some used meranti boards for the project, so it should look good. But mostly he's going to be busy this weekend installing the new wood-and-steel library shelves he's made--which means that, after two years without our books, we will finally have access to them again. This is a thrilling development. But wait, there's more: the plumber is supposed to install the kitchen plumbing on Monday. Yes, believe it or not, after 9 months spent with a bucket under one sink drain and a dishwasher boxed up in the living room, we may in fact possess a fully operating kitchen plumbing system.

Tomorrow I'll reignite the Richard III conversation, but if you haven't yet had a chance to post your experimental response to a character, no worries: you still have time. I have laid low in the conversation because everyone else has been so vigorously engaged. It's been such a pleasure to witness that enthusiasm and imagination and acumen and good will.

On another note: I want to thank everyone who has sent me such friendly remarks about my poem "Average Land," which appeared last week in Vox Populi. This summer's writing frenzy was cathartic as an activity, but of course I never know if the production itself will be worth the paper. The poems feel quite different from previous work, and it's difficult for me, at this close range, to figure out how they'll persist in the long run. To know that the poem resonated with you is a gift in more ways than one.