The beautiful weather has returned, blessedly. I was sitting here after lunch with the back door wide open when I heard a strange splashing noise and finally located it – a plant saucer left on the railing had filled with rainwater, and now it’s full of sparrows, waggling, splashing, drinking. The fat pink roses are back for a second glorious round, everything else still in full bloom – no sense of an ending. Not yet.

Last night was democracy in action – ten people of the thirty or so I’d invited actually came to meet Megann and talk about local issues: the many safe injection sites nearby, transit, affordable housing, bike lanes, and much more – all the stuff city hall should be dealing with instead of fighting this cretinous premier and his bullying ways. Once again, heartbreak. Though I had to laugh this morning – writing to an American friend, I complained about “our dictator” and she wrote back, “Our dictator is worse than your dictator!” This is a contest I’m happy to lose.

Lynn is away visiting a high school friend, so I’ve been alone yesterday and today, getting back to the memoir, making some of the edits suggested by the most recent editor – honing, cutting, getting the damn thing in shape. In the meantime, I myself am feeling completely OUT of shape. A roll of four or five pounds more than I’m used to sitting around my waist, making every waistband uncomfortable, slower than ever in Carole’s class. Is this inevitable aging or is it just my own personal disintegration?

My friend Linda is a brand new grandmother, her first grandson named after her husband’s twin brother who died twenty years ago. So pleased to see her beaming face, to hear her sound just like every other grandmother: “I had no idea! I mean, I love my kids, but I’ve never felt anything like this!” Yes indeed.