#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

This September morning and it’s cool but warming and bright and almost clear. There is quiet and peace. Wave sleeps still before a first day of a new school. His mother has prepared him. Talked about all the new things she has done recently that she was nervous to do. I make a pancake with strawberries for him and then I depart. I go out the door for my walk. The Trustees have solved the beaver. Somehow redirected him and the paths are dry to Farm Pond. I think the water is going to be cool but it’s not. Very pleasant. My arms are astonishingly light as they pull me through the fresh water toward the island. I have not been in Farm Pond like this for a couple of weeks. It’s a sweet morning swim. I’m the only one. Then home. A heron flies over my head and her shadow crosses me on the railroad tracks. I have coffee in my friend’s garden. There are only three of us. This was supposed to be a welcome back lunch for my Charles River writers, but I scheduled it too soon when people are still away, and also scheduled it in conflict with my Israeli group, and so it’s three of us only, and we have too much to talk about. The time whizzes by and we have scratched the surface. I rush off to my Israeli group. We missed each other last week. Lots to catch up on there as well. We approach the anniversary of the second year after Oct. 7. It’s good to be together. I have been missing Charlie since I’ve been back from SF a lot. I feel as if he’s here and then he is not. Suzi too. They are so present and so absent. Everything, all the hydrangea especially get watered late afternoon. It’s such a pleasure to pull a few weeds. It’s so relaxing to prolong the colorful blooms Tonight I work on my challenging poem. A revision. Wave comes home and tells a little bit of what he liked about his new school. The playground, the walk they took. The chickens, the tomatoes they ate for snack. The blocks. Day two: tomorrow. Short days for his new beginning. And I make him nachos to settle in for the night.