August 18, 2007 – It is rare to have my daughter Emma up on the farm – too rare, a big price to pay for my being up here is not seeing her enough. She is an author and writer now as well, working on a baseball book and living in Brooklyn, as different a life as I am living as it is possible to have in many ways.
  We sometimes struggle to connect with one another, yet stay very close. How curious, as I once took care of her, drove her to and from school, shopped and cooked for her, set up play dates. This change isn’t one I will ever get used to.
  In order to help launch her writing life, I dispatched Perfect Pearl, the world’s best writing support dog, to Brooklyn, to help out. Pearl has done her job, as usual.
  The two have one of those wild human-canine love affairs, and are perfect for one another, Pearl walking with Emma all over NYC and snuggling up in Em’s apartment to provide love and companionship through the sometimes lonely and challenging process of writing a book. It is wonderful to see two of the great women in my life, two creatures I love to so much, together with me. Pearl comes and goes. She recently spent a few weeks on the farm while Emma traveled for her book to Wisconsin and Taiwan.
  The two are going back to New York tonight, or perhaps in the morning. There are lots of comings and goings on this farm, part of life here, and the toll you sometimes pay for living a dream.