It's Thursday, and today is my last Frost Place day for the year. A poignant moment, always, but timely as well. We are all tired, a little weepy and elegiac, ready to sit quietly in our corners with the camera turned off, to wander our own roads and sidewalks and fields and parks and attics.

No readings tonight. Tom and Paul are going to the drive-in to watch Mad Max and I am staying home with a bottle of beer and a book.

Tomorrow I'll slowly step back into my daily pattern. But the household has run so well without me. The boys have shopped, cooked, cleaned. Every evening meal has been a delight. I feel so much gratitude for their cheerful support and their quiet, active aid.