Suzi is not in the house when I wake this morning. It’s early, and I have set an alarm. I will drive back to the IWWG conference to stay. Yesterday, I drove there to give my colleagues a ride there from Logan and drop off my own luggage. But returned in the evening for a dear friend’s engagement party. A whirlwind. Frank is home. I am glad. I feed Charlie. Being in the house, her absence is felt. My daughter and I, with the help of Laps of Love, gave Suzi a loving goodbye. Laps of Love sends a vet to the home. How caring and attentive and kind this vet was in caring for Suzi with us in that final hour, on the lawn near the blooming white hydrangea. So, leaving the house this morning, I felt a little relief to separate from the house and drive to Beverly. And then, settle in here. First, for a walk. To find my way around the campus and neighborhood on foot. Found the sea! Climbed the rocks at high tide. A nice man on a rock told me the beach is wonderful at low tide. And, it was! When I returned in my bathing suit after lunch it was a wide sandy beach full of young people, families, and dogs, of course. A yellow lab, a Suzi look alike, romped in the surf. I took the most wonderful refreshing swim and float in the cold water. So much colder than the pond! It was hard to get out. But I had my Play Lab to run, and so I went back to campus, and my work has begun. A great start with eager and attentive and interesting writers to work with. Lots of friends to reunite with. How helpful, how special, how wonderful it was to for me to put my body in the sea on this hot July day. Fortifying and rejuvenating.