In the realm of vision, a millimeter divides blur from clarity, and I spent the weekend on the wrong side of the chasm. But thanks to a first-thing-in-the-morning visit to the humming eye guy, I resolved my ongoing glasses problems and strode into my new editing project without tripping over every letter on the screen.

And so I spent most of yesterday elbowing my way into an academic essay, though I did take a long walk midday; and the evening was a zoom workshop with my poetry group. A busy workday, passed largely in my room. Today will be similarly room-bound: more editing, a walk-break with my neighbor, and then a zoom session with the Telling Room cohort. Originally I'd planned to take part in person, but that was starting to seem unwise, with the holidays on the horizon and the new variant stewing. Fortunately, the staff has figured out a hybrid model--some in person, some zooming--and I'm interested to see how smoothly that will work, and if we might be able to borrow it for Frost Place programs, if need be.

Tonight, Tom and I have a Christmas-present project to figure out together, one involving mysterious packaging (Tom's realm) and mysterious labeling (my realm). Already, I have been consulting The Golden Bough and Learn to Speak Esperanto, two excellent sources for obscure hints. Dinner will be hake meunière, Italian potato salad, fennel and carrot slaw, and holiday cookies. The wood stove will be cozy, the cat will be tangled up in ribbon, and that, my friends, is the Ghost of Christmas Present.