Silence is amazing

I slept in the boat house last night--because I could. I got home just after 8, bundled up the dogs, grabbed the basket I keep filled with my boat house things, and swished down there. Unfortunately someone at the foot of the lake was mowing a lawn with a big loud machine (I think I know who it was, and if it was him he's an extremely nice man so I tried to think kind thoughts, but it took him forever) so there was no silence until it was almost dark. The lake was still and it was beautiful. A few cotton-puffy clouds with pink bottoms. I lit some candles and read, stared into space a lot and calmed down from what had turned out to be a terrible and nerve-inducing day. Ahhhhhh.

While lying in bed I heard a huge splash--presumably a large fish jumping right near our dock. Wowie! Don't tell anyone or there will be fisherpeople all over the place the way there were last year after someone caught a big bass just off the boat house. Anyway, peaceful and glorious sleep, laughing all night as Tess decided to sleep on top of the covers, then under the covers, then on top, then under--at least 5 times. She makes me laugh, that dog.

I ordered new collars and new name tags for the dogs--choosing colors for both is most difficult. Everything arrived so last night I played with their bling and dressed them up. Now they look pretty and proper and ready for their trip to RI. I got the kind of tag that has their vacation information on the back, RI address and phone number. Comes in handy when Chances decides she can't bear to enter the home of my mother's snarling dog who always attacks her and runs away.

When I got up this morning it was raining ever so gently so I took a quick dip in the lake (like, where else would I dip?). Cold, although rumor has it the water temp is 70. When I got out I was cold, very cold. Had time to make tea and drink it on the porch and read. It was silent, then it started to rain harder and there was that almost-silent ping!ping!ping! of the drops hitting the water. It's a very gentle sound, just barely loud enough to tell you what's going on outside. It was finally time for me to head home, and when I got out of the car there was the deafening sound of raindrops hitting leaves all around. The difference was incredible. It was soooo loud! I'd never noticed it before but the forest is amazingly loud when it rains, even a little. That's my revelation for the day.

It's been a traumatic time in the neighborhood. Last week Ken fell. He doesn't remember falling, which has everyone very concerned. Apparently he used his hands to break his fall because they were so swollen he couldn't use them. They were grotesque and horrifying to see. We all begged him to go to the emergency room but he said no, they would admit him to the hospital and he wouldn't have that. This was last Thursday. I've been there every day, helping him with various things, as have many others. Fred finally convinced him to see the doctor on Monday, when the swelling had gone down quite a bit. Doctor was concerned about his not remembering the fall but said his hands were OK. Ken could barely walk, needed help to get in the car, walk to doctor's office, etc., which Fred found very upsetting. This fall has really taken its toll on Ken and has many, many people very upset. I told Ken he should see it as a warning and he needs to curtail his physical activities (like--driving his 1954 HUGE tractor, riding his lawn mower for hours on end, stacking 4 cords of wood in 2 days). Last night he seemed much better, hands nearly normal and able to walk pretty well, if very slowly. He says "If I get over this" so is very realistic about it. I think he'll recover physically, and will slow down. He's always been terrified of falling, afraid he'll break his hip. He hit his head really hard this time and my friend Annie (who's a doctor, whom I called Sat. morning, hysterical, to get a diagnosis over the phone) thinks perhaps he had a slight concussion. Not a stroke--she said people who fall down from a stroke don't get back up again.

So his neighbor and niece Pat has been really good, going there every morning and again in the afternoon. Good friends who are renting Bill's camp take him dinner every night. I stop by, do his grocery shopping and tonight will buy him new socks. Many people stop by and are taking care of him. He has worried a lot about who will take care of him if something happens, so I think this is a great experience for him in that regard.

Today I'll spend the day with the correctional facility librarians. Enough to drive anyone over the edge. My role in this meeting is to give them information on their interlibrary loan activities, our lost book policy, the online ILL system we use (which they can't use because they'll never have Internet access), and blahblahblah. Be charming to them so they'll keep giving us the $40,000 we need from the funds they get from the state for library service. kissasskissasskissass. AND: the new Harry Potter book is here but we can't circulate it for a week. So why send it to libraries? This I don't really understand. Anyway I read the end and I know who dies. Stick a flaming poker up my butt and I still won't tell you.