The thunder came first then the deluge started. The roar woke Henry up and he sat right beside me, nervous for the first time. I patted him until the thunder stopped, and he went back to sleep. I don’t know how long it rained, but it had started again by the time I woke up.

The day is humid but cooler than it was yesterday. I have turned off the AC and opened doors and windows. I can hear the songs of a few birds.

The cat is down all day now. He(?) sleeps beside me on the couch. Henry sleeps on the other side. The cat purrs and even lets me comb him. He is quite comfortable. Yesterday I finally saw the other cat. When I went to feed them, she Stayed where I could see her. The cat is beautiful with a white face and a white chest. The rest of her, except for her paws, is black. I softly spoke to her, and she stayed for a few minutes. That’s a small step but I’ll take it.

Today is a day to stay home. The tourists take to the roads on rainy days, and they tend to meander on the major roads leaving the side roads to us, the ones who know better.

When I was young, I went to girl scout day Camp. It was in the pine woods at the end of a dirt road across from the zoo. One of the first things we did was find rocks, paint them white and then place them on the walkway to our site. We also went on hikes, made crafts, sang camp songs, and when camp was almost over, we stayed overnight at the lodge. Every morning we put up the flag and then took it down and folded it at the end of the day.A few years later I was a junior counselor at the same camp. My mother was a counselor. Her site was under the pine trees at the highest point in the camp, which wasn’t really all that high. They painted rocks first.