According to AOL, it's ten degrees warmer in Two Creeks and AuSable Forks than it is in Wakefield and Naples. Go figure. I hear it's beautiful out, and it looks nice, but I'm in my air-cooled cubicle, looking and feeling very bleary-eyed. Have spent the entire day staring at computer screens. Cataloging idiotic videos, deleting holdings information from various databases, and weeding old rotten fiction titles. Ah, the challenges of being a librarian. We did break to celebrate someone's birthday and had angel food cake with strawberries and Cool Whip. Then I had to meet with a sales rep who always, in the 20 years I've known him, smells like Vicks Vap'o Rub, and has the weakest handshake of anyone I've ever met. And now it's 3:25 and I'm getting ready to drink what must be my 5th Diet Coke of the day before I can head home. I'm hoping to take the dogs on a bog walk today. Let's see if I make good on my promise to myself. Sometimes I just sort of stagger in to the house and plunk myself down.

Last night I was determined to get rid of the tree that had fallen across the bottom of the circle in the driveway so that I could use the driveway as it was intended, as a circular driveway. I mean: what's the point in having the snow melt if you can't drive around the circle? So, after crying the appropriate amount of time because Henry will never again be able to help me solve such problems, or cut up trees like that for me, I got out 250 feet of extension cord and took my electric reciprocating saw down to the bottom of the hill and cut up the tree myself. That was very satisfying. On a roll, I cut town about 6 trees on the north side of the house, along the driveway. These were about 30' high but not very big around. Then I had a long conversation with Henry about the birch tree I'd left along the stone wall when I cut down the rest of the trees there last year. He thought it should come down, I thought it was a nice tree. OK, Hank, you win, I cut it down. I guess it looks better now that it's gone. Anyway, I want to please you so it's gone. I certainly have enough trees. Now I have to decide about the cherry tree in the lawn that's at least 50' high now and only looks pretty when it blooms in May/June. He had decided it too should come down. He might be right about that one, but I think it's too big for my little saw. I also decided that I probably need to get my own chain saw and have my friend Peter the logger show me how to use it safely. This would be really great and would make me feel comfortable living alone in the woods. After all, the only time I cut myself with my saw last night was carrying it back into the house, when I nicked my finger on the blade. It was unplugged and certainly off.

Today I ordered daylilies with the money that Fred gave me. He wanted me to order special lilies in Henry's memory (don't you love people who give you money then tell you how to spend it). So I went to a special lily internet site and ordered one each of: Island Sand Dollar (nearly white, very pretty in the picture), Little Red Warbler (only 18" high and red, who could resist the name), Mini Pearl (Henry loved country music) and Prairie Blossoms (he did live in the Midwest, after all). This place has 400 varieties, and I only looked at some of the new '04 varieties. They have some varieties that cost $75 for a single plant. I didn't order any of those, with my luck Jackson would eat them. These were all pretty cheap, except for Little Red Warbler, which cost $10. Now I have to decide where to put them. At camp, near the boat house? At my house? Is there a spot that's sunny and dry at camp? Do I want to share my bounty with the Rogers family? Will Jordan attack them with John's weed whacker? I know there are a lot of variables in life, but let's try to minimize them, shall we.

Union May breakfast at 7 tomorrow. Julie's idea, up to me to organize and facilitate. Why is it always up to me? Beacuse I'm the president, that's why. Don't these people realize I'm barely functioning? No, I think they can't tell the difference, so apparently I must always seem this way to them. Swell.

Flotsam on the bed this morning included 2 rolls of wrapping paper, one of which I really liked, one of which was the purple paper I don't particularly like and probably bought for Jenica when she was 12, pieces of plastic from the container that held brownies I made for the DC trip, mystery pieces of plastic, Jack standing over me barking, my eyeglasses (NONONONONO), a container of eyedrops (NONONONONONO) and a sock. What a creative little darling is my Tess. She is allowed to take ONE BITE of food from the metal bin while I prepare the other dogs' bowls and she is waiting. She almost always limits herself to this, just one bite. Today, however, she couldn't help it, just couldn't help it, and took TWO bites. "What did I say? ONE bite, that's all, just one!" Head down, "Yes, I know, but there's so much food there and I'm really, really hungry and who knows how much poop I'll be able to find out there in the woods." And Chances patiently points out that she is sitting under the table with just her nose sticking out, taking NO extra bites from the bin, just waiting for her meager portion, less than the other two get because she has a tendency to get FAT.

This is what awaits me when I get home.