Much cooler this morning, down into the low 50s, but the forecast is for sunshine and the temperature will climb into the 70s . . . a classic Maine summer day. On the down side, however, the groundhog has returned: I caught sight of it in the garden yesterday, munching on broccoli leaves and then zipping back into my neighbor's yard, no doubt into its den under her shed.

And so the groundhog battle begins again. Sigh.

Today I want to catch up on some house things, and then I've got a faculty meeting, and then maybe I'll find time to go for a walk. No updates from the boys; I think they are incommunicado now, on a several-day backpacking tour into Glacier. I am trying not to fret about grizzly bears.

Otherwise: for some reason I'm feeling a little down. A bit of groundhog gloom, no doubt: they are hugely destructive, and my garden is like a candy store. And I've got some nerves, as always, about the conference. I know the sessions will go well, but somehow, at this particular almost-there juncture, I always start doubting my ability to make them work.