You have got to be kidding me.

It's noon already?

I have only accomplished the following today, on this lazy, pyrotechnical holiday:

• waking up late
• thinking about my family scattered hither and yon
• taking my regular long walk, but later than usual, but that was okay because: not so hot
• blueberry pancakes, making and eating
• pulling spent blooms off the nicotiana
• making a desultory list of stuff I could/should/might do today
• sitting on the patio and reading a few pages
• admiring my back yard

--all good things, to be sure.

I woke up this morning around four to hear the sound of water. It didn't sound like sprinklers. I feared that it might be a swamp cooler malfunction. I lay there and considered it. I got up and looked out the window. It sounded like rain. I went out on the back patio: rain indeed. So I stayed outside to be in it, sort of--on the chaise looking out at the world, the light still dim. Then there was a muffled burst of lightning, which sent me back indoors. Because my patio roof is metal, and I'm safety conscious like that.