Ron worked from 10 until almost 7.

I mowed and picked up leaves from the front yard at Edgewater, including the debris on the street, and mowed front and back here.

Finished the MRS schedule for 2016.  Couldn’t reach Jim yesterday or today.

Ron’s hair has so many beautiful colors!

Dripping woke me up last night.  Still raining.  Ron’s timing could not have been better.  I’m so glad he finished the powerwashing yesterday.

Had a nap last evening after riding with Ron to bring James home.  Was in a lot of pain last night but much better now: back, left ankle, hands.

Looked back at some posts from December 2008.  That was a very tough year.

Ron finished the power washing! Fantastic. That leaves only gutter cleaning for the last major outdoor chore.

Had a great annual checkup.

Finished out my week at the bakery. Pureed a case of bananas, washed a “cement mixer”, labeled bags, cleaned a cooler, washed dishes, cleaned the coffee area and the side window sill.

We are running very lean this month. Peter is late with the rent; property taxes were due on the first; and we had a gigantic water bill thanks to someone’s leaving a sprinkler on all night.

So, I was astonished to find that Ron had drawn down his bank balance to $0.

Turns out, he transferred about $270 to PayPal – for probiotics! – and didn’t realize it.

Finished cleaning the windows this morning, or at least, made a good attempt.

Slept with the puff last night. Frost this morning.

Made a killer chicken stew and rice and beans tonight.

Drove Robert and later, James, to work.

Ron was at the bakery. He drove everyone home tonight!

Did some database updates for the school.

Swept leaves from the driveways, Edgewater and here.

Made more progress with old paperwork.

You like it under the trees in autumn,
Because everything is half dead.
The wind moves like a cripple among the leaves
And repeats words without meaning.

In the same way, you were happy in spring,
With the half colors of quarter-things,
The slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,
The single bird, the obscure moon—

The obscure moon lighting an obscure world
Of things that would never be quite expressed,
Where you yourself were never quite yourself
And did not want nor have to be,

Desiring the exhilarations of changes:
The motive for metaphor, shrinking from
The weight of primary noon,
The A B C of being,

The ruddy temper, the hammer
Of red and blue, the hard sound—
Steel against intimation—the sharp flash,
The vital, arrogant, fatal, dominant X.

Wallace Stevens, 1879 – 1955

Not less because in purple I descended
The western day through what you called
The loneliest air, not less was I myself.

What was the ointment sprinkled on my beard?
What were the hymns that buzzed beside my ears?
What was the sea whose tide swept through me there?

Out of my mind the golden ointment rained,
And my ears made the blowing hymns they heard.
I was myself the compass of that sea:

I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw
Or heard or felt came not but from myself;
And there I found myself more truly and more strange.

Wallace Stevens, 1879 – 1955

Ron did three loads of laundry and finished powerwashing the front of the house.

I had a good day at the bakery.  Did a lot of scrubbing and cleaning in addition to washing cooking equipment.  Told Liz I’m interested in being a baker.  Standish visited for the day.

A huge flock of starlings flew from our yard to Tony’s to the left side of Laura’s, then the right side, and over Laura’s house.  Quite a spectacle.

Did the lawn at Edgewater today, brought leaves back to one of the new plots.  Did the transfer station run as well.

Ron completed the new dryer vent!  It looks very professional and works great.