I don't know where I left off in my writing. I could check, but today is the only day the matters for now. The sun is returning and they sat we may see 60 degrees in the afternoon. 

The snow that fell and froze the ground will likely be gone for a few days until winter comes roaring back. 

The ticking of the clock on the wall next to me; the clock set back an hour on Saturday night, if comforting. It might be on the buffet in Grandma's dining room. Or in the reading room in the library where Mom would later read to the children of the town. 

Yo can buy clock that don't "tick", but that would be like one of those barkless dogs. Something would be missing. 

So many gaps in my life and the world today. I can't visit my friends in Poland or Cambodia, or Portland, or Marquette. I stay home except to walk Cody my 12-year-old dog. I put on my mask and any smile and many kind words, go unseen and unheard. 

I will call a classmate from high school to hear a familiar and understanding voice. She entered my life from a country school when the big yellow buses started bringing the country kids into town for school. That was during the 7th or 8th grade. She was so beautiful and out of reach. Not, by her words or actions, but by my lack of confidence and experience. She has remained a dear friend; something she never was when we were young. We have walked the cemetery in our home town and remembered those we've lost and those we miss. I have no-one else who could take her place on those walks. We both seem to have a special bond with our town and the friends we knew. I have lived half my life elsewhere, out west. She has never left. We both are still tethered to the roots from which we grew.