We're flying back to Portland this morning, after a visit that has been so exactly what I needed. One of the jokes of the visit has been "why is Dawn falling asleep so much?" because I have been dozing on planes, in cars, on couches; sleeping hard all night and late into the morning. Between times I've been walking, walking, walking for miles through the city; I've been eating and talking and playing games and admiring the lake and peering at tiny museum replicas and talking about cats. But sleep keeps lurking around the corner.

This afternoon I'll  slowly reinsert myself into my workaday life . . . garden, laundry, house. And then, within the next few days, I'll take my first steps toward getting a new cat. That's another thing this visit has made clear: I'm ready.