a.m.

It is quiet this morning. I can hardly hear the birds outside. It was a good rain yesterday and the world is clean. My fingers will not work. I picked seven spent blossoms from my Chicago Star and laid them out, fifteen feet apart, and drove my scooter in a zigzag pattern through them to simulate the road cone test. I dumped my scooter over on its side. Not while I was riding it, but I parked it, put down the kickstand and walked away. I failed to account for the weight of the new pack and panniers attached to the back rack. It bent the rear brake lever and spilled a little gas, but all in all, no problems.

Sid is recovering from the raccoon attack. Those urban 'coons are tough mothers. As it happens, I was taking Sid to the vet and went across the street to Starbucks for a cuppa and the charming window girl asked,

"And what are you up to today?"

and I said, "Well, since you asked, I just dropped my dog at the vet because he tangled with a Clinton Street Raccoon."

and she said, "I am terrified of raccoons. In Kansas, one jumped out of a tree and landed on my head and attacked me."

I didn't know this much about raccoons, but apparently, they can get a little bit agitated. I thought they just ate nuts and berries but I was wrong wrong wrong.

So, the story, in case you didn't know, is that I was sitting on the porch, blogging my life away, and Sid launched in the general direction of the street. It is unusual for him to do stuff like that. Being evening, I wasn't sure what he was after, but soon realized it was a raccoon. Everyone started yelling at once. Even the neighbor boy who suggested that Sid's breeding was a menace--so that was fun. But the fight was on, and Sid lost. Got his little pitbull ass kicked. It was his first fight. Quite primitive, actually, but this raccoon lives under the house next door, and torments Sid every morning. So when Sid saw that guy sauntering across the street in plain view, he just went for it, to his immediate dismay.

Sid is now laying at my feet, an antibiotic keeping the bad germs at bay, and the world is awake.

I am going to figure out the camping trip. I have a list of things not to forget. I am a planner, at least in advance of anything. I do like my lists. We'll see, come leaving day (12 days!!) what I bring and what I don't.