Well. it was cool and cloudy all day yesterday, like this morning so far. It feels like rain, but no rain fell and none is forecast. Kind of like Nova Scotia, getting ready to rain for days, but I'm afraid not. I keep dumping water on things.

The chicken body disappeared in the night, so Ray doesn't have to bury it. I have started feeling a little nervous at night, not knowing what is out there and how it can hurt me (not literally me). I feel like I need to do something more to protect my chickens, although they are probably fine in the coop, the same as always. And I got two eggs yesterday.

I worked a couple hours at the Land Trust in the morning and met Lisa L. for lunch. I really enjoyed talking to her; we seem to have a good match of takling and listening. She is in a different place, with her childen in elementary school, but most of our values are similar.

I tried to say goodbye to everyone at the staff meeting, but couldn't keep from crying. Ray and I came  home a litle earlier than usual. Spent time getting photos off my phone and dealing with my computer, when I was supposed to be applying for jobs.

Made supper with Ray's help, watched TV, went to bed.

Anne Lamott is brilliant, thank you Orangette!

It was cool enough yesterday morning and evening to open the windows. My toes are a little cool this morning; I should turn off the ceiling fan. In the middle of the day, it ws 93 and still no rain; the ground is very dry. I poured some water on a few things in the garden and found 2 more hornworms destroying my last remaining tomatoes and peppers. My Dad bought some grocery-store tomatoes!

I have done a really strange thing--I sprained my fingers, hand, wrist--not sure exactly--or strained--on my right hand. Pulling closed the car door. It is very sore and there are lots of things that are hard for me. Some letters on the keyboard. I can't put my hair up. I am sure a doctor would say, "rest it," but don't think there's much else they could do for me.

We found the body of our missing chicken around the side of the house; not sure if it was there the whole time and we missed it or Cameron (or something else) dragged it out from somewhere else. There wassn't time for Ray to dig a hole (in the hard ground) and bury it yesterday morning, so we have had to keep Cameron close until he can. I smelled it before I saw it. Nothing to tell me what killed it--Ray thinks maybe a possum, but it seems strange to me that whatever it was didn't want it for anything, just to kill. We are getting eggs from the other two, but will probably get one or two more at some point.

I dropped Ray off and went to Deb's house for Small Group Ministry. It was a good meeting, but I cried. The topic is hard for me. Do you have rules or guidelines to live by? What happens if you break them? My rules are simple and yet ridiculous: Save the World. It makes me cry, because I am not succeeding. Sometimes the rule(s) are contradictory: Should I go to Washington to protest the oil pipeline--or should I stay home and not use the energy and money? Others in the group looked for balance between goodness and happiness. To me, happiness is not an acceptable goal, although it may come from doing the right thing. Doing good, helping people, being useful, productive, constructive is the only goal. Not that it is achievable, but it is the boundary that shapes my life. The corollary is do no harm (like physicians). But by living, I do harm, so I want to do more good than harm and I am not sure I am succeeding. Deb was concerned, she said I was depressed and should take care of myself. But it feels more like being realistic--the Earth is dying and all of us with it, and I cannot stop it.

I had lunch with Janna, which was fine, but I was not very good company, I don't think. I went to the Land Trust for about an hour, showing them how to use Vertical Response, which is a program to send emails to lists, with photos and formatting, so a newsletter. I suggested that they have one person who primarily sends the info...Matt said he would do it, but Nathan thought everyone should send their own. (This would mean everyone would  have to be an expert at using the program, and equally good at writing, etc.). I think this is the basic problem a the Land Trust--too much democracy. The funding issue is they can't get money to pay for a communications or public relations person, but I think that is a cost that pays for itself, intangibly, in increased donations. Whatever.

Ray had to stay for a faculty meeting at 4, so I drove home. I was supposed to be working on some job applications, but I had trouble being motivated. Then I remembered my conversation with the Captain. He was auditioning for Rose of Athens and they wanted him to bring a head shot. I went through pictures from the last year and found a few with him in it. I uploaded them to Snapfish, cropped them, and ordered prints. It was much more fun than applying for jobs. You can have them printed at Walgreen's and pick them up within minutes...for 19 cents a piece. These were not excellent pictures and I didn't have them made into 8 x 10s. They were from my phone and the quality would not have been good enough, but I wasn't wiling to pay that much anyway.

I called my Dad and he dictated his resume to me (his acting resume): 2 shows in college....I printed that out and took it with me, picked up the photos and met Ray at the apartment. Captain was working on learning a speech from Huckleberry Finn--he dressed in his overalls and a torn shirt and boots and took a bottle of whiskey to wave around as Pap Finn. I started feeling bad, like maybe this was too stressful and I shouldn't have suggested it. Ray and I had a quick swim in his pool, while he headed off to the audition.

We went home and were almost ready for dinner when he called and said it went well. Now he will wait to hear from them. The director, Lisa, is the person who needed a home for Cameron and she is very grateful that we took him. We are glad too, so that is kind of a bond.

Our omelet was very tasty--yard eggs and home-grown peppers! Somehow it was late after that and we watched some TV and went to bed.

Last night, I dreamed about my mother. I have not dreamed that she was still alive, just that my Dad and I could see her and have a very ordinary, reassuring conversation with her about whatever we were doing at the time. Even though we knew she wasn't really there. I think Ray left because he was so disgusted with us.

I have been engrossed in hurricane news, following it on the Weather Channel and my computer. I am thrilled that Amelia didn't even lose power and her biggest challenge was boredom. I wonder about other people I know--and places, like Vermont.

It was cool in the morning and I started some bread, as well as making bacon and pancakes for us. Ray and I went to UUFA and sang with the choir, which was well received. It was Bread Day--once a month, someone goes to Panera and collects the leftover bread at the end of the day. So you can buy day-old bagels, 6 for $1. I bought 6 bags and we froze them.

We came home and had lunch with my Dad, who was working on his computer at our house. We made salad nicoise, except not with potatoes and green beans. I read on Chow.com that if you steam eggs instead of boiling them, they are easier to peel. And it worked! We had plenty of peppers, but just a few tomatoes--tasty though. Captain did a load of laundry and hung it out. He is very sad and lonely, but he is going to audition for Rose of Athens tonight. He is working on two monologues--I'd love to be there.

In the afternoon, I did some computer stuff and made some chicken curry. When we were ready to eat, Ray froze most of it and served the rest up with some leftover rice. I admit we watched TV while we ate it. It was delicious, I have to say, and reminded me of Sushanth's recipe--catsup and cream. It's nice to know that we have three more meals of it.

We had our third dance lesson at 8, but when we got there, they were having auditions and we had to wait a while for a room. It was fun and we can now foxtrot and swing, to some extent. Not sure how long we'll remember if we don't practice.

Fell asleep watching John Stewart.

I am waiting to hear if Amelia still has power this morning. I talked to her late last night and watched a lot of the Weather Channel. She thought the electricity might go off at around 2 this morning and the worst flooding would be about 8 am, when high tide is in New York. She had done everything she could do, with food and water and even a bag packed. I certainly hope she is sound asleep.

Most mornings, as I wake up, I take inventory and count my blessings...Molli in Mexico, Amelia in NY...this morning I am a little sad about a missing chicken. Sylvia was not a pet and she was not affectionate. But I feel repsonsible, like a farmer who has not taken care of her assets. When we headed out to get my Dad on Friday, it was very hot and I coudln't get the chickens to come into the coop. I wasn't really worried. When we got back late at night, I looked in and could see them, so I shut the door. But apparently there were only two and I didn't realize it until my Dad let them out the next  morning. He is disappointed in me as well. We have not found any evidence of her demise, but probably need to look in the woods around the house. The other two chickens aren't giving me any clues and don't seem to be behaving any differently. Cameron, the dog, isn't talking, if he knows anything. Sylvia had been broody, staying in the nest box while her sisters roamed more, so I don't know that egg production will be down much.

My Dad spent Friday night with us and I made us all bacon and eggs when he got up. We watched a little hurricane coverage and he visited the gardens. Ray and he went to get the last of the tree they had been working on and I headed to the university campus for a training for people who want to work on campaigns. There was some good information, but I found it a little disheartening. It's a somewhat scientific process, with procedures to follow, but not enough soul for me. And it seems kind of pointless in some ways. Do we really think we can get Democrats elected in districts redrawn by the Republicans?

I came home and changed my clothes and Ray and I went dancing at Project Safe's Groovy Nights fundraiser. We had fun, although we can't quite dance the night away like we used to. There were several Star Wars storm troopers, as there have been other years. It amuses me that adults would dress up in what must be very uncomfortable costumes and stand around for a couple hours, having their pcitures taken. There were some sand people and a Darth Vader and somebody that might have represented Obiwan Kenobi. The food was also from the 70s and perhaps not the healthiest. For lunch, the political students had pizza and Coke. At Groovy Nights, we ate crackers and dip and chocolate fondue, quite tasty. We invited Mary Anne and Ed to sit with us at Kent's table. We had called him before we left and he was planning to stay home and watch the Falcons.

We went to bed later than usual and now my shoulder is aching again.

The big event of yesterday was driving to the airport in Atlanta to pick up my Dad. His flight was early, the traffic was slow, but not impossible, and we had a nice dinner afterward, which he paid for in exchange for us meeting the plane. He requested a wheelchair, although he didn't really need it, and it made it much easier for him to get through the airport quickly and easily. On the way out to Santa Fe, he had a carry-on bag with a broken strap and wheels that didn't roll, plus a briefcase with a heavy laptop and two library books. And he didn't ask for a wheelchair. He was pretty exhausted when he arrived. While he was there, he bought a new suitcase that did roll and had Bonney ship the two libirary books back to me. He had a good visit with them and was glad to be home, generally pretty cheerful.

We have both been very intierested in the hurricane and the responses to it. Amelia is ready in NY, with water and food and flashlights. The trains are stopping running as of noon today, so she will not be working for two days. Her greatest danger is boredom, especially if the power goes out. If she has electricity, she will spend some of the time baking.

I worked at the Land Trust and had a long conversation with Nancy, in which she apologized but said there was no funding to keep paying me after August. This only confirmed what I already knew. I assured her that I would be fine, and maybe things would be better at some time in the future.

Ray and I picked up a few groceries (and some Yoforia) and headed home for a little while before leaving for Atlanta.

Back to incredibly unbearably hot weather; somewhat cooler at night, but no windows open last night.

Ray had a long day, so he drove the red car to the Captain's apartment and took a campus bus from there. I stayed home in the morning, made a bean salad for the potluck, and went to the Land Trust in the afternoon. I talked briefly with Nancy, but spent a couple hours touring some of the sites with Kate and a class.

We visited the Council on Aging, where they are planning to build a demonstration garden on an old parking lot. The existing community garden has melons and peppers and tomatoes and cosmos and bees.

There is a five acre woods in a very urban area that has been preserved and could benefit from some trail maintenance, removing non-natives, and signage.

There is a church that has a community garden and wants to build a pollinator garden for educating young children.

And there is some work to be done at the offices, adding a vegetable garden and a bioswale.

I went along in theory because we will want volunteers at all these sites, to help the students. It was incredibly hot. I had my hat and my water and my jeans and boots. Most of the kids were in shorts and flip flops. Hopefully they did not go near the poison ivy.

I came home before 5. I was cooling off some when I got a call from a neighbor. She was about to go to the hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery and asked me to stay with her teenage daughter so she wouldn't be alone and worried. Of course, I was happy to. Said teenager was a little dismissive, but if it reassured the Mom, it was worth it. I was there less than a half hour before someone else came to take over.

Then I headed to the potluck, which I enjoyed very much. Lots of good food, although a lot of it seemed  to contain beans this time. And I love seeing everyone, especially the young ones. Anna and Mia were there. Mia is attending the film institute in New York, but home for the weekend. There were troubles with her flight, making me glad I am not dealing with that again soon. My favorite is little Ava, who sat on my lap for awhile helping me play Gin Rummy with Sky. Then I let her play the Matching Game on my iPhone. She kept saying, "I did it," every time she made a match. The enthusiasm is so wonderful and she has bright eyes and a smile that I love to see turned my way.

Ray came late and then we headed home to watch a little TV and fall asleep very early.

The hurricane is skirting the coast, so we have no rain predicted (for the next 10 days!), while they are evacuating people in North Carolina and even New York City.