Yesterday turned out to be exactly the day I was hoping for. I got the floors finished before 9:30, then yakked with Donna for an hour about our Nancy Drew reading project, then made bread and grocery-shopped and dealt with many layers of laundry, and eventually made my way into the garden, where I pulled out the eggplant, basil, and pepper plants as well as (sadly) all of the zinnias, which were looking pretty wretched after the giant rainstorm. Tom even coaxed me into a bike ride. In between, I finished a Du Maurier novel and started a Drabble novel, and I did not read anyone else's manuscript, and it was so refreshing.

So today, I am ready to reengage with my desk . . . that is, after I bring the car to the garage and battle my way back home through the street construction. Editing, manuscript reviews, and then a phone call with Teresa about the Iliad, and then I'll turn my attention to prepping for the Homer class. Skate cheeks for dinner (if you haven't had these, you should try them: they taste kind of like fluffy scallops). I feel ready to deal with it all.

P.S. Just learned I have a new poem out today,"the bog is multitudes," in Hole in the Head Review. It's a revised version of an exercise Teresa invented for last summer's Writing Intensive, and I'm excited to see it in print.