return

Break's over. Time to go back. The predicted rain never came to Venice Florida. The air was warm, the skies were beautifully varied. I'm grateful for that.

This morning, I have just enough time for one quick look at the sea, the birds, that half-brooding sky at sunrise.









And, of course, breakfast with my friend.





And then it's back onto the highway, back on the plane, this time on an aircraft without a missing window, back to Detroit and back to Madison. (Which greets me with dense fog and freezing rain -- thanks! This, after I swore my allegiance to all seasons here!)

Still, I am back. It is officially my last day of work but I don't go in. I mean, this date is so oddly out of sync with reality anyway. I felt retired after I handed in graded exams and now I feel a little less retired as I have a half dozen students wanting to meet with me and review their tests. Emails from so many of them come in, nice emails, super kind emails, but student needs are ongoing. Should I respond -- no, I am off payroll now? Of course not.

At home I cook up whatever has lasted in the refrigerator this long -- vegetables, eggs, salad fixings. A typical farmhouse thrown together supper.
Did you miss me? -- I ask Ed.
Of course! -- he responds, but it's an automatic pilot response.  I smile. I'll take it in any way it's offered. Isis comes up on the couch and sits between us, pushing his nose into me. He needs a pat and a kind word. Not hard, not hard at all.