Early this morning I drove 60 plus miles West of Kent to visit Jessica Grim in Oberlin, Ohio. We met at a coffee house and spent a few hours talking. Jessica and I, these days, tend to only see one another once or twice a year. But when we get together it's not awkward; we seamlessly pick up where we left off. Our conversations are ranging, punctuated with laughter, and invariably leave me feeling a little better about the world.I've known her since she first moved to Ohio from NYC over 20 years ago. She's my one true poet friend in Ohio. But's she's much more than that: she's truly a good friend in a grander sense. I don't think there is much that we couldn't talk about with each other.

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My youngest daughter, Claire, turns 27 on Monday. Geeze. Jessica reminded me of a visit to our house when Claire was little. Jessica said, on that particular occasion, Claire was convinced that she could teach her pet guinea pig to talk. I didn't remember that, but I do have fond memories of when Claire used to put that same guinea pig in her pink Barbie Corvette and tool it around the living room.

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The Ask/Tell blog is going to take awhile to get off the ground, but feelers are going out in multiple directions and I'm confident that by and by the work will get done. In the meantime, I need to return to some unresolved texts of my own which I've been neglecting. Onward!

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