Battening down the hatches.

We did some autumn into winter chores today--drained the cooler, put on its winter coat, turned off the outside faucets. I did laundry from upstairs and down. Washed dishes. Cooked and ate porridge and cleaned up after ourselves.

Read the paper, all the terrible news. Talked to Scotland.

We ventured out for our late-ish doggy constitutional at about 10:30. The wind was wild, and you could feel a cold edge to it. Cold and getting colder. The last few nights, the stars have been brilliant. Perfect sun in the day, piercing stars at night.

I graded and graded today. I'm not caught up--please. But I can see the possibility of being caught up now. Beyond that, I can just see the thin selvedge of the end of the semester. It is scented with Christmas tree and has the tiniest sparkle of twinkle lights, even when it is weeks away. Also? Wedding cake.

One of my friends said to me once that, anymore, he was all and only about the small saving graces. I can appreciate where he's coming from. Tonight, I made a frittata and some steamed broccoli. We watched The Good Wife and two episodes of The Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt (it's a miracle!).  Clean sheets. Talking to my kids. A snug house. Those clear stars.

Around us, all about us, so much falling apart. Maybe it's always falling apart, we're just noticing more.

(These fragments I have shored against my ruins)

The rain.

I was just wondering about the monsoon season in northern Utah, and here it is, arriving with a bang.

The only downside is that Bruiser finds the thunder disquieting. Trembling, general fearfulness--this from a dog whose motto used to be 'WHO DAT.' It is heartrending.

So we calmed ourselves down with a little Jedi selfie action.

patience you must have, my young padawan.

do or do not, there is no try.

Market.

We got up at least a little earlier than we've been getting up for the market today. It was still crowded, but here's what we got:



yellow cherries














huckleberry potatoes














red haven peaches















broccoli romanesco, chard, tomatoes











Other stuff too--thin little green beans, sweet white onions, a fat purple Italian eggplant. Garlic, an herb baguette, blackberries. I will be cooking up a storm this week.