sun came out bright like nothing had ever happened, blue sky and every living thing looking healthy like there's nothing better than five solid days of rain and a few tornado warnings to make a plant feel alive. the mowing trucks got right to work; they drag around the riding mowers on pickups and try to do fifteen or twenty lawns while the sun is still up, but they have to get out and walk around first to see the wet spots that might stick the mower in the mud or ruin the blades. they want it to be dry enough to cut, but they're willing to get started when it's almost dry, or close enough, and just go around a few patches of wet saw-grass.

i myself got involved in gardening, planting leeks even while i already had onions, planting more and more until the fragrance will be overpowering. the onions take to the lousy clay soil pretty well and hopefully the leeks will too, and eventually i'll know the difference between the two, and maybe plant some garlic. if i were to specialize in any vegetable these would be the ones, but i can't tell you why, maybe it's because they ward off the vampires, or make good fresh omelettes. they're talking about making chickens legal in town, so if i get some, get fresh eggs, have an endless supply of leeks and onions, all i need is a goat to make milk and cheese, and i'm on my way. lately i've become nervous about the depression, no jobs, no money, no retirement fund, no social security, blah blah, so rather than sit around and stew about it, what can i do but maybe write a novel, play some music, or plant a few more vegetables. get that old survival mentality going and the garden tools dirty.

but the day was so nice, the sky so blue, that we ended up playing whiffle ball, hitting it out to the soft low saw-grass parts, and tearing around chasing each other, and then we made a fire and tried to roast marshmallows that were basically stuck together because they were leftover from so many camping trips ago. the thing about marshmallows, they never go bad, so you can't throw them away, but once they're stuck together they're like pure soggy cotton candy...ah well you can't worry too much about that. i got so much smoke in my shirt that i'm still coughing a little, but i don't want to change the shirt, on the contrary i want the smell to last at least until i can make another fire.

outside, i hear friday night heating up: cars going too fast and making too much noise, an occasional ambulance. the heck of it is, this is only a window. more storms are coming. we, having planted and set up a drain system, hopefully to let excess water go downhill, are exhausted, and will probably go to bed early. the fresh air is like that; it's good for you, and we hope the children also will sleep in a little, and give us some rest.