Day 192

Monarch and tortoise beetle dancing.

So, look at this picture and imagine you are in a meadow, the sun beating down on your head, lucky you wore your son's Celtics cap, so the sun does not burn as hard, and the mosquitoes can't bite your head.  There is a pleasant buzzing all around you as the bees land heavily on the little yellow Celandine flowers, the petals willingly bending under their weight. 

Everything is super-alive this morning, everything standing straight up after the lovely rain, all the stems full of sap, refreshed and strong.  Every little creature ventures out into the moist meadow, the tortoise beetles, the bees, the grasshoppers, the butterflies.   And wasn't Refrigerator Corner wonderfully cool?

What a lovely walk, hot and humid, celandine blossoming, radiant purple thistles, the second round of milkweed blooms, and everything baking under the hot hot sun, the wide blue sky.

On Friday night our oldest American friends took us out to dinner for the boys' birthday and for Tim's birthday.  The picture is not that good because Tim forgot to show the waitress how to focus, but captures the happy spirit of the occasion nevertheless.  So this is instead of a drawing tonight.  


In Campagny (continued)
Beeze woke Luca when the sun came up, by calling his name in her strange way, from the mouth of the cave, "Looker, Looker!  Wake up!"  His stomach was concave with hunger, but his head was much better.

He hadn't been walking for very long when they came to a large clearing, where a long white building could be seen among gardens.  There were several docking stations with white vehicles parked next to them.  Luca vaguely remembered seeing similar designs from long ago.

The little green parrot seemed ill at ease here.  She perched on a young oak tree near one of the doors and told him where to go but would not enter the building with him.  So he had to go on all by himself.  He did not feel any better than she did.  He entered what seemed to be the main door, to find himself in a beautifully lit area, natural light coming in from skylights in the roof, feeding sunlight to a veritable jungle growing around a large pond with water splashing continuously out of the fish-mouth of a statue in the middle.  He had never seen anything like it.  It stopped him in his tracks with its beauty.

"Can I help you?" asked a young man, eyeing Luca's numerous-pocketed coat with some suspicion.
"What is this place?" asked Luca.
"This is the western edge clearport."  replied the youngster.  "What do you want?"
"I need to find Norena Skull-Engraver," said Luca. "It is very important that I find her."
"Oh yes, it's always VERY important, " responded the young man.  " What do you want with this woman?"
"I need to tell her something, and I know she will want to hear it..."
"How do you know?"
"It really is very important but I can't tell just anyone..."
He could see that the young man was getting annoyed with him, he tended to have this effect on people.
"I need to ride in a flier to First Town, please." he blurted out.
Just then a young woman with a good face walked into the beautiful room, which was acquiring an unpleasant ambience from Young Annoyed Person.
"Hello, I'm Jada Airbat. And you are...?"
"Luca Leonid" replied Luca, grateful that someone was here to rescue him from Young Annoyed Person. "
"Well I'm going to First Town. . Just give me a few and I'll be there.  Wait at Elephant landing for me.  It's just outside to your left."  and she made a face at Young Annoyed Person.
Luca hurriedly retreated after thanking her and left the watery room to find Beeze still perched in the same place, blending in with the leaves.
"I've got a ride!" he told her, and he thought she looked happy.  He was beginning to sense her moods from her looks, even though parrots' faces were not very expressive.