The wind knocked over the honeysuckle trellis (a substantial steel frame - too large for me to heave back into place by myself) early this morning, and the rain knocked out my Internet connection during much of the day.

The sun, when it appeared, was bright and beautiful. The day was warm enough that I didn't have to wear a jacket as I went to and from my meetings and errands.

Alan Luber's columns on his experience as an executor may be of interest to some of you. It does reflect some of what I'm working with and through right now. (On the bright side, my parents' house is in far better condition than the first house I co-owned, and the remaining clutter far less gross. And while I hadn't expected to deal with this for oh, another thirty years or so, my background and personality are a good match for the job - my resume includes decluttering a cathedral annex and working with financials, and I'm a quick study.)

I still want to sleep straight through a week, and this weekend's to-do list is too close to last weekend's for comfort: I just now wrapped up a brief critique I started a week ago, and many other comments and notes remain to be acknowledged/answered (as well as new ones I need to create in response to others' triumphs and losses). But it is, ultimately, a good problem to have - which is what I've been telling myself about the other things I keep not quite getting to, or deliberately choose to leave alone (which is happening more and more). There will never be a lack...

Via marymary: Kelly Fineman on drafting and revising poems (or, why "if it takes a long time to write a poem, you are not alone").

I did actually get up at 4 a.m. one morning last week because a poem wouldn't leave me alone until I got it written. That was a happy thing (although I also desperately needed a nap a few hours later). Tonight, I'm going to stay up a bit longer to swat at the fluff in an earlier piece, so that it doesn't morph into a 4 a.m. itch as well. Which should, in turn, help me focus on trimming down that to-do list...