Look who came to my book launch party at the library!  He seemed to have a wonderful time.

This is me beside our front door.  Years ago we decided to paint it yellow just for the fun of it, but that has come in very handy.  “Just look for the yellow door,” we tell people who have never been here before. 

Even though it looks kind of silly, it’s a very serious door.  It stands guard against the cold and the wind and the frights of the night.  It endeavors to keep Habibi the cat from escaping.  It stands up to the knocking fists of politicians and trick or treaters, the knuckle-raps of salespeople and Jehovah’s Witnesses. It swings wide to friends.  Today, oh sad day, it will close behind my daughter when she says goodbye and goes back to New Jersey, where she lives.  (She, by the way, took this photo–thank you, Phoebe!)

Here is a secret: the lock is finicky.  Sometimes it snaps into place and other times it refuses.  Very much like a heart.