I have two days before I leave for Liverpool and made a list of all the things I want to do but it’s raining today…and after sleeping for twelve hours yesterday, I’m having to rearrange my To Do list. My week in Toronto was good—my mother has started palliative care but she’s able to do her physiotherapy exercises and was lucid most of the time. Her care team is fantastic and she’s able to feed herself. I don’t know what will happen over the next few weeks but doctors have given her a gloomy outlook before and each time she’s proved them wrong. So I might have to go back this spring but I felt like I was leaving her in good hands. My team of friends showed so much love and support…Kate flew in from Nova Scotia and took me to a Raptors game; Dawn arranged an afternoon tea; Bethany agreed to store two of my suitcases, and Cozbi met me in Chicago to hand over the mail she’s been collecting. My older sister manages Mom’s care and my aunt and her daughter give Mom manicures and keep her company. It takes a village and I’m grateful for mine…

I took notes with my phone and caught up on my poem-a-day routine when I got home on Friday. My French journal entries have fallen off but I’m going to keep up with my podcast while I’m in Liverpool. I want to walk by the Loire one last time but I also have to mail books at the post office tomorrow morning. I’d like to enjoy one last meal at my favorite restaurant and I’m finishing up the food that’s in the fridge. I’m doing another load of laundry so I can finish packing my one suitcase. Hopefully it won’t be so heavy that I can’t get it on and off the train on Tuesday morning! Getting to the airport last week wasn’t hard. I’m nervous but I’m capable of solving problems so hopefully this transition will go smoothly. I didn’t get to see my friends in Paris but I’ll be back. I will! Definitely not done with Tours. My illustrator is taking longer than expected but it’s because she’s a perfectionist and really, there’s no rush. I reached out to the local public library and they agreed to accept the seven books in my dragon series. Their youth section has a small collection of foreign-language books so kids who can read English may enjoy my dragon tales. And when I return, hopefully my bilingual books will be ready…

I’m *still* tired. Not sure if it’s menopause, too much travel, or my low iron. Got my blood work done a couple weeks ago and was mostly pleased with the results. I feel healthier here! and cleaner–there’s a film of salt on *everything* in Chicago and Toronto. Winter is basically over here and the botanic garden shows signs of life that normally wouldn’t appear until March or April in North America. I finally got inside the greenhouse yesterday, which was closed all winter, only to find the citrus trees I dreamed of weren’t there. Still working on The Winter Garden poems. Maybe I’ll find gardens in Liverpool to help me fill in some gaps…