The world can get to feeling pretty darn dark these days. The stupidity and vitriol of politicians is truly alarming; crime abounds: a 23-year-old woman, a volleyball player from a local university, was shot dead at 2:30 in the afternoon near here during an attempted robbery, students are forever being relieved of their belongings by the ubiquitous ‘young black male in a hoodie’. I must remember to look for the light when I am drawn to all that dark stuff, which can spiral me down. I did see what was either an egret or, possibly, the pelican, sitting on a branch sticking out of the water in Jefferson Lake this morning. Will take a walk later to see. And will ride my bicycle early on Thursday, maybe see some goldfinches and martins massing up to migrate. I overheard a woman at the gym this morning saying that her father is a farmer in Nebraska, where they have terrible drought, as here, and he says that temperatures are about 3-4 weeks early this year. So the coolish temps we enjoy now are really September temperatures. He also says, based on his observations of the weather over the years, that after this hot, dry summer we are likely to have a very cold, wet winter. Wait and see.