I write to you from my everyday couch corner in my little living room in my little house in my little city by the sea. My trip to Chicago was everything I'd hoped it would be: intense and easy time with my young people, a stunning experience at the ballet, lots of unplanned meandering, delicious meals, and, to top off the fine weekend, my brain sparked a thesis for the essay I'm getting ready to write. If I tell you that my suitcase was the very first one off the luggage carousel in Boston, you will understand that good luck has indeed been fluttering over me.

Today I must return to the regular old world, sadly bereft of sons and their beautiful friends, and with far too much housework and desk work stacked up and waiting for me. On the other hand, the snow has disappeared from my garden, and my cat and my husband and my bed were glad to see me, and I have nothing to complain about, not one thing to complain about.