Homebody that I am, I'm going to miss my husband, my dog, my house, my office, and the view from my grimy window. On the other hand, I also miss my children, and they live in Texas, so needs must.
One fairly major announcement: Today is the day that my colleague Joseph Bottum and I unveil our new project. You can visit Poems Ancient and Modern any old time --- without a paywall, at least for now. We'll be serving up poems on a regular basis, in much the same mode that we did at the New York Sun, though being our own bosses means we can have our own personalities a little more than we did (not to mention our own bylines). Jody is up this week with Leigh Hunt's "Jenny Kiss'd Me," D.H. Lawrence's "The Piano," and an oddity from Franklin P. Adams, while I cover Emily Dickinson and Gerard Manley Hopkins (and also J.A. Baker's The Peregrine, because I'm still trying to work off that obsession). Check us out and, if you don't want to have to keep visiting the site, subscribe to receive essays by email as they appear.
All packed, drinking my coffee, fixin' to get dressed. The sun is shining, and it's a not-unpleasant 38F outside. Well, it would be unpleasant if I didn't dress warmly, but I plan to dress warmly, to step out for a last little jaunt with Dora before I bid her a fond goodbye.
Wearing for the road:
Kind of a monochrome outfit until I added the scarf.
*Wool& Willow dress (M) in Wisteria
*Secondhand NPL Smock dress (S/M) in Dark Blue-Gray
*Secondhand Aran Crafts cardigan
*Secondhand Allbirds navy leggings
*Devolt wool socks
*Secondhand Birkenstock Melrose boots
*Secondhand J.Jill cashmere scarf
Everything I'm not wearing fits handily in my carry-on-sized backpack, with a little overflow into my daypack. The exception: my snow boots, which I'm taking for Party in the Park, because it's bound to be really muddy. The phrase "Groundhog Shoes" exists for a reason, I am told. Anyway, those will just get thrown in the back of the car, to be retrieved at need.
And in just a little bit, I am off.