on the eve of the fourth, i should be talking about my love for the country - its wild spaces, out in the country, where i tend to flee on the fourth. i am not big on fireworks, and i'm very happy now that i'm in a place that outlaws them because the fourth is the driest moment of fire season, the very last. after the fourth the rains come, and though there isn't a lot of rain, what there is alleviates the fire hazard a little. i'm grateful. i don't want to fire off crackers anyway, so i just point out that they're dangerous and leave it at that.

the kids are going nuts with the quarantine, except the oldest, who could conceivably quarantine himself the rest of his life, if he only were to be able to make a living. here's a kid who actually made a thousand a month on his youtube channel, but now that he wants to make money he finds it a little harder, as if he's one of a billion who are trying too hard. nevertheless we told him: take it easy this summer. you got straight a's, you were valedictorian, you were the star of the class that didn't get to throw its tassels. stay home, be safe, get ready for college.

so he is, and, we are keeping our word. we let him stay up all night, or sleep in. we make no demands on him. and he chooses not to go to town. he's got his mom's caution, paranoia and anxiety in him.

the other three, on the other hand, are adopted, and though that has nothing to do with it, well, i guess it does have something to do with it. for, while we are all about caution and anxiety, they are just plain ont-and-out teenagers, wanting to be out in the world and see what's out there. they maintain that they are careful - they wear masks, they don't hug, that kind of thing. but we know better. for one thing, they don't quite really believe this coronavirus thing, aince a lot of their friends don't. they're doing what teenagers do.

which could be our undoing. i am quick, writing my books, because my time on this earth could be limited.