I'm really pleased to read the varieties of comments on my February 18 post. Clearly, there are so many different sorts of readers, such a richness of knowledge and experience. There are million things I don't know about my own art form.

Braininess is a state of mind. Today it's not mine.

According to the great pitcher Satchel Paige, in order to stay young, you have "keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move." Take him seriously: when he was 59 years old, he pitched three scoreless innings against the Red Sox.

Current writing projects: (1) a solicited article about the experience of writing the Milton book--specifically, the poetry-prose conundrum; (2) a poem about a mourning dove with a grisly foot injury.

Foolish things I have done lately: (1) watch the movie Convoy; (2) fall down on ice skates in front of a lot of kids; (3) decide to take up chess, which is a recipe for loss and disillusionment.

Unexpectedly lovely things I have done lately: (1) ice-skate around and around in an aimless circle with the wind howling at my back; (2) stand in the back of a church and listen to my 13-year-old son play the opening measures of Bach's "Toccata" on a pipe organ; (3) win at chess.

Dinner tonight: venison stew, homemade noodles, local carrots, salad greens, and possibly cream puffs if I ever stop writing this post and start doing my editing work.