But a resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible.

~ Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

What another day of frosty wetlands. I have slept in a bit, the quiet house. Nobody to get out the door but the dogs. I let the rooster out of his pen and give him his meal and a banana. Frank loves to give Fudgy bananas, and Fudgy loves to receive them. Second day of my writing retreat. I get more submissions out the door and work on poems after my walk and swim. I am still very much enjoying Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I start to listen to a news podcast and turn it off in favor of the novel. I revise three poems today and do a little Internet research on more. I feed the dogs and keep it simple. It’s me and my daughter. Last night I woke in the middle of the night smelling lavender. Lavender? I see my daughter has left a vase of fresh lavender beside my bed while I was sleeping. I love the scent of lavender. Tomorrow I travel to Boston for brunch and then to see a playback theater show my daughter Franci will be performing in, so I am likely to be out all day. I have more than one poem I can workshop on Monday. I see that the Biden program that allowed my Ukrainian friend into this country, along with so many other programs for refugees, has been halted. I know what a valuable program this has been for her and how happy I am that she is here, my friend, working, legally, paying her rent, walking her dog, buying her groceries, taking care of her mother in Kiev. Hers, just one successful refugee story from this particular valuable program. There is ice in the wetlands, it’s beautiful here. There is ice in the White House. House of ice.