I woke up to the un-forecast sound of rain this morning . . . a very welcome sound, despite the clothes I left on the line overnight. We've had so little rain this month, and already I am running up the water bill as I hustle around trying to keep everything in the garden alive. This morning's rain wasn't much, but even drizzle is better than drought.

I'm still in work limbo, so I've got another amorphous day ahead of me . . . some combination of reading, exercise, revising, gardening. But today is the day that my neighbor finishes her two-week vax window, so our big plan is to have a glass of ice tea inside my house together! I am actually ridiculously excited about this very small event.

Yesterday I had another small but lovely interaction. Standing in the checkout line at the Hannaford, I was accosted by a five-year-old named Lionel, whose mother was wearily waiting ahead of me. She was very pregnant, and clearly exhausted, and seemed to speak little English, so I tried to make sure via body language that she was okay with my talking with her son. (She did make it clear that this was fine.) Meanwhile, he broke the ice by telling me the colors of many grocery items, informing me that he might like to get a job at this store when he grows up (e.g., when he is six), and asking questions about the people around us, who then joined into the conversation. Lionel was a complete charmer, an adorable chatterbox, a social butterfly; and as the parent of such a child (son #1 James was an incorrigible talker), I know he must be a handful at home. But he was such a bright light in the checkout line!