4/11: the last day of sabbatical

Technically my sabbatical isn't over until start-of-the-school-year meetings begin in August, but tomorrow I'll be going to Pennsylvania to take care of my mother as she recovers from a surgery, and by the time I get back to Arkansas it'll be "summer" rather than "sabbatical."  So today is the last day of my sabbatical habits.  Happily, it's warm enough to be sitting on the screened-in porch with the cats--our last installment of sabbatical's "morning office," which became a regular practice last summer during my picturebook course.  I'm sure I'll continue having morning office when possible, but I'll always associate it with this sabbatical.  During today's morning office I finished reading the remarkable Skellig by David Almond and am working on some of the last forum postings for my coursework.  This sabbatical year has had unexpected challenges and difficulties, but this morning I am feeling the goodness of it and am grateful.