Saturday, July 18, 2026

     In the late afternoon on the deck, I am with my traveling friend and her puppy dog. The dog is up and down the stairs and trying to help my roommate with her gopher wars. We talk and laugh.  I forget that our sounds carry into the neighbor’s yard. Last week my neighbor had friends visiting on her patio and I could hear their conversations. It is startling to realize my neighbors can hear me.

     In the morning two friends from Oregon stop by for a visit. And later another friend brings a home baked bread. I love the visits.

     It is dark and cold this morning and the hidden neighborhood dog is barking. Small birds are in the bottle bush tree.  Mourning doves are cooing. I am back in my winter clothes. Today is a rest day from yesterday’s visits.

     In the evening, we watch another episode of SUGAR. When I am alone, I watch I, JACK WRIGHT, a British murder mystery. My roommate is tired of murder stories. For laughs we watch the latest episode of THE DAILY SHOW. I finished reading a short Stephen King novel ELEVATION. Yes, he does write short novels, along with his long long novels. Our criminal president hasn’t been impeached yet but impeachment is coming and is deserved.

 

Friday, July 17, 2026

     Thick cool fog this morning. Looks like it is here for the day. I put on warmer clothes and close windows. My hands are cold as I work on the computer. Dog barking most of the day and night. Humm I wonder if there is a problem someplace in our neighborhood.

     I decide to go to the library in the morning. One book is overdue and is on reserve for another reader. I pack up eight books to return and find a parking spot in the front near the entrance. Always a struggle to step up on the curb, such a small step and so difficult. I am grateful for the courtesy walker in the building. And I do it and return home with a new stack of books, and am exhausted for the  rest of the day.

     It is hard to tell who is winning the struggle between the gophers and the farmer. My roommate seems tired of the struggle and shows me the plants destroyed by the gophers, She attempts to save damaged plants who have been attacked and partially eaten by the gophers. Surprising to me, it seems to work.

     We watch the second episode of the burning man documentary, THE MAN WILL BURN. Four episodes all together, dropping one a week. I missed out on going to Burning Man. I went to Tassajara for a three month retreat. I was looking for wild silence rather than wild sounds. The president’s demented lying speech is not interesting and is soon turned off.

 

 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.