Happy Labor Day weekend, everybody! I hope you all had a lovely summer. Ours has been full of bursting!

First of all, the thrilling news that Degrees of Latitude, my book-length poem that I describe as "the geography of a woman's life," will be published by Four Way Books in New York in Spring 2008. Keep an eye on my website for more information as it becomes available.

Second, I spent a week babysitting with Emma in August while her nanny was on vacation. Emma is 15 months old now; when I saw her she was walking eagerly and spent a great deal of time going up and down inclined driveways and up and down steps on walkways going to neighbors' houses. She loved going around the neighborhood; a block's walk could take as much as an hour and a half!

She fell going downhill and scraped her knee. "Emma," we'd say, "where's your boo-boo?" She would hold up her knee and point proudly: "Bo-bo!"

I'm in love!

We had a stray hound come to live with us for almost three weeks while we tried to find her a home. Finally, she went to live with a pest control salesman who has a pack of hunting dogs he wants to breed her with. Soon after that, we found an abandoned tabby kitten on the road and brought her home too. Luckily, our local shelter, All God's Creatures, was able to take her -- and only for a day, because she had a standing request for an orange kitten!

Now we're back to normal. Except of course that it's the week of the US Open, Andre Agassi is retiring, and he's struggling -- so far successfully -- to stay in the tournament with his bad back and his courage. The fans (count me in!) adores him!

Good health and happiness to you all.