Today, the calm before the storm. We've confirmed our decision not to drive to Vermont tomorrow--the forecast is gruesome. Instead, we'll gather ourselves together on Christmas Eve morning and make the trek then.

It's Tom's last day of work before the company's holiday break, and tonight he has invited me to go on a date. So I'll don my new red dress and the two of us will drive into town for dinner; then wander the streets, admiring the colored lights strung on the coast guard boats and among the trees in the city parks.

In the meantime, laundry and such. A visit to the fish market to buy cod and smoked scallops for the holiday. A walk into the cemetery. Some editing.  Maybe I'll keep working on the new blank book I started yesterday, or wrestle with poem drafts.

The other day a writer posted about Accidental Hymn on Facebook, calling it "magnificent" and "stunning." These are large words, too large, and they make me shiver. I never get any better at dealing with praise, though I am intensely grateful for it. Possibly that is the secret of etiquette training: it teaches people to be gracious under pressure. But I'm a hick and don't know any better.

[Hick. What a great word. American slang is the best. I'm glad it's my native tongue.]