I'm at the airport in Montreal waiting for my flight to Chicago, which will be followed, if all goes well, by the flight to Little Rock. I should be home by 11 pm local time, as long as there are no delays or cancellations. [There were delays. --Ed.]

What an interesting trip it has been. While I was looking forward to the interesting and potentially productive work that the board was to take up, my recent positive experiences with a couple of excellent committees was imparting a rosy tint to the whole. I had forgotten about the various issues that tended to hamper the effectiveness of other groups. Some breakthroughs were made on those front, yet I'm inclined to believe that structural problems remain that will continue to block us until they are dealt with directly.

On the other hand, Montreal -- cold, rainy, windy, snowy Montreal in early April -- won my heart. I was head over heels for the city and its people, and I can't wait to return for the AAR's annual meeting in November. To give just a single example, I was warmly welcomed and grandly feted by one of our valued commenters on the A.V. Club, a lovely and lively young woman who goes by the online sobriquet of Phel. When she learned through my Twitter feed that I was visiting the city, she immediately issued a friendly invitation to meet her for drinks and conversation, and as a fellow knitter (yet another pleasant surprise), she passed along invaluable information on downtown yarn shops that I will spend a happy half-day exploring in toto when I return.

I have learned much from some of the wise people that our director so frequently invites to advise us and thus brings so fortuitously into our acquaintance. And as you may have already surmised from the style of this entry, somewhat more verbose and elaborate than usual, I finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Au revoir, Montreal!