July 29

Rules for having people over for dinner here on the ranch:

- There is always dessert 

- Guests will arrive with their own drink, typically in a coozie 

- Order fresh breeze to enable comfortable porch dining

That's about all I can think of. But...

- It's 101, no breeze yet.

- Shopped at the HEB and almost forgot the salmon.

- Queued up brownies recipe (to have warm with vanilla ice cream); having trouble with the idea of turning the oven on.

- Chicken poop on the porch, along with the spilled dirt from the overturned geranium and gravel from the overturned cactus (because chickens) but it's too dang hot to sweep.

There are potato wedges in the Crock Pot with smashed garlic, oregano, and Parmesan. If all else fails, cheesy potatoes for dinner. I think it'll be fun though.

* * *

When 91 degrees at 10pm feels refreshingly cool...

Let's see, what else...

Dinner went fine, I made way too much food, it was too hot to eat outside, the kitchen is a mess.

After dinner we went to Chuck's to look at pictures: Jeffrey climbing Denali last spring, Chuck's days working as a civil engineer in Africa, vacation photos from when his wife was still alive. Chuck has led a full and interesting life.

Clea the dog got lots of good pets. Even though she chased the armadillo.

On my way home a baby jackrabbit ran zig-zag down the road in front of the truck. Stopped and turned off lights for a minute so it could escape... it is DARK out here. Lovely lovely total dark. I think that will be one of the things I miss most.

Sitting on the porch now getting eaten by mosquitos, listening to bumps in the night (seriously, even the cat is attentive), and feeling happily connected to my home planet via text message.

Obviously I have no idea how a space traveler feels, but I do often feel very small out here.