green grass, red birds, blue sky

Great things about today

• The weather. This is what summer in Paradise must feel like. Thank you to whoever put this together.
  
• I thought I had to go to a shindig for Online U this afternoon, but I don’t. That means I have the rest of the day free. Bonus!
  
• The lawn looks and smells freshly mowed. The laundry is done and hung up. No more chores. The rest of my day really is free.
  
• Speaking of my yard: I feared my new lilac and spirea shrubs were goners. They were looking good before I left for the reunion, but a searing week with no water left the poor things mighty crispy by the time I returned. But I’ve been soaking them and talking nice to them all week, and guess what! Buds on the lilac and tiny new leaves on the spirea!
  
• There’s a cardinal in one of the trees shaking her tail feathers in the spray each time the sprinkler arcs high enough. The cardinals seem to enjoy a shower almost every time I run the sprinkler near a tree. I think about installing a birdbath for them — but then I remember that Warren is a pretty good hunter, and the bath would only serve as bait for unsuspecting birds.
  
• I might be able to help a friend start doing something she wants to do. And a friend might have a business lead for me. See, it all comes around.
  

Two things I really should do tomorrow: (a) check with Sela about when they’re going to remove the dumpster that’s been blocking my driveway for nearly a week and (b) get my call forwarding capability reinstated.

I could ride my bike to the post office later today. I could empty the dishwasher. And I could start on one of the projects on my desk. But none of that has to happen today. I could return to the hammock and the far-away world created by Michael Chabon in the The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. Yep. That’s the plan.