>> TODAY IS THE 53RD DAY OF SPRING.

AND AT LEAST IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, THE TRANSITION TO WARM WEATHER FILLS THE SENSES: YOU CAN SMELL THE CRABAPPLE BLOSSOMS, HEAR THE ROBINS CHATTERING AND, IN MY YARD ANYWAY, SEE THE ALMOST IRIDESCENT YELLOW OF DANDELIONS.

BUT SOMEHOW, THIS SPRING SEEMS MORE...

TRANSITIONAL... THAN USUAL.

LAST NIGHT, MY DAUGHTER METAPHORICALLY CROSSED THE STAGE AND RECEIVED HER COLLEGE DIPLOMA.

MY SISTER-IN-LAW AND HER HUSBAND - WITH AN EMPTY NEST OF THEIR OWN -— ARE RETIRING, SELLING THEIR HOUSE AND MOVING TO... WELL, THEY DON'’T KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YET.

IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, I WILL ATTEND THREE WEDDINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF FRIENDS.

AND TONIGHT IN THE STUDIO, BRENDAN HENEHAN -— WHO TAPPED ME FOR THIS GIG 24 YEARS AGO -— WILL PRODUCE HIS FINAL EPISODE DOES ALL THIS MAKE ME FEEL OLD?

YES.

YES, IT DOES.

BUT I'M TRYING TO LOOK AT IT FROM A LITTLE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

THE TERM "TRANSITION" COMES FROM A LATIN WORD MEANING "A GOING ACROSS OR OVER."

I LIKE THAT.

IT'S GOT SOME MOTION TO IT.

RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON THE END OF THINGS, TRANSITION, BY THAT DEFINITION, EMPHASIZES THE NEW.

THE UNKNOWN.

THE ADVENTUROUS.

THERE'S A SPEECH IN A THORNTON WILDER PLAY THAT TALKS ABOUT ADVENTURE.

IN IT A CHARACTER NAMED BARNABY SAYS: "THE TEST OF AN ADVENTURE IS THAT WHEN YOU'’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, YOU SAY TO YOURSELF, 'OH, NOW I'VE GOT MYSELF INTO AN AWFUL MESS; I WISH I WERE SITTING QUIETLY AT HOME.'

AND THE SIGN THAT SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOU IS WHEN YOU SIT QUIETLY AT HOME WISHING YOU WERE OUT HAVING LOTS OF ADVENTURE."

SO, SOFIE; HELEN AND KIP; SEAN, PHILIP, BEN, AND, OF COURSE, BRENDAN, I WISH YOU A GOOD TRANSITION AND JUST THE RIGHT AMOU