I really had been looking forward to today. Both children would be back in school, the fair would be over, I would be on an editing hiatus, and I would be immersed in a day of canning tomatoes, making relish, picking grapes, and digging potatoes. One of those Keatsian "mellow fruitfulness" days, you know? But instead, as I was heating water for coffee this morning, the propane ran out. "Oh, yes, we were supposed to deliver that yesterday," said the fuel company dispatcher cheerily, when I called her at 6:30 a.m. to find out why.

Believe it or not, we do not own a microwave or a toaster oven. However, thanks to our ever-resourceful James, we discovered that one can boil a kettle on an electric panini maker. Unfortunately, he had already left for school by the time I learned that the toilet had stopped flushing. So next on my list of things to do is to jerry-rig a paperclip to the chain. I haven't even fed the animals yet. Sigh.

But I suppose this all gives me extra time to read the poetry of Zbigniew Herbert, doesn't it?