Thursday, July 16, 2026       

     A wisp of fog in the sky this morning. Airplanes flying in to the airport. Summer travelers. The professor packs up and drives back to her home. We had a good visit.

     In the afternoon I sit on the front porch with my chair yoga book. Time to do the twenty minute routine outside. Then I read a couple of articles in the current New Yorker. I forgot how wonderful it is sitting outside. Slight breeze keeps the bushes and trees moving.

     My friend comes unexpectedly with bagel sandwiches for lunch. I am glad to see he is still alive. It’s his 83^rd birthday today. He asks me why did I think he had died.  I respond, we don’t have newspapers now reporting deaths so how would I know. I am isolated from community news.

     In the evening, we watch the Italian movie BUEN CAMINO. No English dubbing, so we follow the story reading the captions. They all speak so fast. And I did laugh and the story is warm hearted about a father and daughter. But very Italian. I start reading Andrea Wulf’s new history book, THE TRAVELER. Her books are always delightful. And I am still reading I DELIVER PARCELS IN BEIJING.

 

Wednesday, July 15, 2026    

     A pair of woodpeckers arrive in the neighborhood. Several times I chase them away from knocking on my roof’s wooden over hang. No I shout, not here.  This is an old house. They quickly fly away to the nearby tree. This morning I hear knocking and think it is the Meals on Wheels volunteer.  Nope it is the woodpeckers again. My door bell is broken so we depend on knocking.

     Our first warm day of the season. No fog, some wind.  House is warmer then outside.  I forget how to keep the house cool. Maybe there is no way. Usually on the third hot day, the fog comes back.

     The kind professor and I binge on Clarkson’s farm and the Pitt. When she visits, I search for interesting shows to watch with her. This morning she returns to her home in the bay area. My roommate is busy in the back yard watering the plants. She cooks a meal for us with some of her back yard produce.

     The best book I have read in awhile is I DELIVER PARCELS IN BEIJING by Hu Anyan. I am not sure why I like it. A memoir of a young working man in China, a young man who writes well.

 

 Tuesday, July 14, 2026   

     Warm sun this morning. Small birds in the bottle bush tree. Noisy garbage truck movies slowly down the street. The professor is visiting and we drink coffee together in my room before the day’s activities start.

     A second man has been murdered by ICE agents. More protests, of course, being scheduled. So hard to know what to do. Bombing in the middle East, senseless bombing. And here in my neighborhood all is well.  Somehow that doesn’t make sense.

     The gophers may be winning in the back yard.  My roommate is finding new ways to challenging their authority. This time with caned sardines.  Don’t ask. I don’t quite understand but the roommate knows.

     I am just about finished with the memoir of a neurologist.  I feel pretty healthy compared to her patients. We are rewatching season 5 of CLARKSON’S FARM with the professor. Another day, another day.