It looks like the torrid heat will be back today, but the big bad news is that a groundhog has found my garden. Sigh. I never had groundhog trouble in Harmony . . . raccoons, deer, moose, yes, but not the portly devastations of a groundhog. He is maddening and I have little recourse other than to shake my fist and hurl curses and wish that someone with a humane trap would come take care of the situation.

Meanwhile, Little Chuck digs into his litterbox like he's racing Tonkas in a sand pile. I've never seen so much litter on the floor. The animal life sure is lively around here.

Still, I am getting work done. At my desk I've been switching back and forth, back and forth between editing and teaching plans, and gradually one pile is getting smaller, the other getting larger.

[Upstairs, opening a drawer, Tom says, "No. Hey. (Pause.) HEY." Little Chuck says, "Yow."]

This afternoon Teresa and I will meet for the first time post-conference to talk about how the session went and what we might want to start thinking about for next year. So much seems to have happened since I left Monson, but it will be good to dig back into that world. Things went really, really well: participants and faculty were excited, even thrilled, by what ensued with our collaboration prompts and performances. I'm sure Teresa will have ideas about next steps. Now that I'm back on the rails (sort of), maybe I will too.