In response to your comments

This is not an essay being posted...you'll have to wait for the weekend for that. I just wanted to say thank you for the great comments. I truly appreciate reading them. It seems strange to me what you all interpret from the essays that I post, which may or may not have been the intended meaning. But I suppose that's what writing is about -- touching a chord within other people, teaching them something about themselves or the world around them, or maybe just making them laugh.

To address a few questions: I don't know when I will be coming back to Utah. No word on the job yet, which probably means it's not good news. But Ohio has reciprocity with Utah as far as teaching licensing goes, so there's still hope (a few years from now). And maybe I'll just become a published writer and can live wherever, although I have to admit I fell a little more in love with Ohio yesterday as I sat on my parents' patio with a glass of rosé wine all afternoon yesterday, basking in the sunlight and a good book.

Oh, I'm protecting the identity of the haiku writer. It's kind of fun for me to know who it is and to keep the secret from you. It'll be good practice in my secret-keeping skills. Some of you probably already know who it is anyway.