There are still a couple of openings in my Saturday essay workshop in Blue Hill, so if you're a midcoaster who's in the mood to experiment with prose structure, please consider signing up.

Likewise, on August 5, I'm teaching a poetry workshop in Kittery, which sits right on Maine's southern border. This means the workshop will be within easy driving distance for many of you New Hampshire and Massachusetts friends, which in turn means that you should maybe sign up so we can have fun together.

As a head's up: starting in mid-September, I'll also be leading a 10-week master class in poetry, held here in Portland, probably on Thursday evenings. I'll share the link to that event as soon as it's been formally announced.

Today, however, I will not be leading any workshops. Instead, I will take the cat to the vet for a distemper shot. And later I will drink coffee with a friend. And after that Tom and I will celebrate our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary by going out for oysters. Our anniversary is actually tomorrow, but I've got to drive to Greenville for a band gig, so we're having our party today.

We're also supposed find out sometime today whether or not the sellers will agree to our proposed revised house price. I am mostly optimistic, but who knows?