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I wake up this morning, and I know it happened: I was here. But I can't help thinking that dazed: It's all so very surreal... Yesterday, the wrap up of the festival, the parcel I carry in my heart from Kimiko Hahn, the gift of new eyes and language, ways of looking at things, and certainly a new urgency; the phenomenal experience of witnessing Gerald Stern's reading, the beauty of his sense of language and, oh, what a riot of a personality (I want to watch him again and again and embrace him for being the wonder that he is).

Today I fly back, return to that corner of the earth I call Home, embrace the husband I've been without for the past six days, snuggle up against the dogs and the cats that make up our menagerie, sigh at the clutter and fuss, and settle into the routine of being back in school. I'll have to push forth to catch up, but it won't take much; the first week is always so tentative, even in graduate school. And it's back to where I was before, but that was a good place too. (Just a little colder and minus the ocean. And Hahn and Stern, who were important touchpoints for me at this year's festival. And Espada. Mustn't forget his opening night performance. Oh, so much to hold dear!)

I'll be back soon, in warmer clothes, and let you know how the transition to real life is treating me.

xo