For several years, Riga, Latvia, has been a travel destination for us, beginning with our first visit in August, 2000, and the ensuing ten-month stay that academic year.  Chuck’s Fulbright award to teach at the new Riga Graduate School of Law allowed us to make the acquaintance of a fascinating capital city of a charming former Soviet state, now a nation. The award was extended to support his short-term assignments there over the next several years, and we deepened our knowledge of the area, learning a bit of Latvian and traveling to nearly every town in Latvia and its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania. As we anticipated withdrawal pangs this year, without any good reason to visit, an invitation arrived to cat-sit for diplomatic acquaintances, giving us another chance to experience June in Latvia.