still @#$%% - really - hot

My long-term group of writing students were at the house tonight, all of us sitting on the deck at dusk with white wine and riveting tales. At the end, Jason pointed out that it was 9 p.m. and still very light out. "It's not even summer yet," he said. "It shouldn't be this light at night. Something's wrong." It's the way we're all feeling about this incredibly hot weather - right for July and August, just odd in May. Welcome to the new warmer world.

Went to the doctor in the morning, to monitor this aging body. One of my complaints was that I'm getting pimples and wrinkles simultaneously, doesn't seem fair. The doctor was not interested in this complaint. I learned that I've grown another quarter of an inch and am now a tad over five foot nine. That is such a relief. For years I was five foot eight and three-quarters, which is just awkward. Five nine is much better. In any case - so far, touch wood, touch all manner of woods and anything else that will help - it's all systems go in the internal plant. The brain now - nothing she can do about that. Dialling a number and then having no idea who I've dialled - walking purposefully into a room and then trying to figure out why I'm there - even wonderful Dr. MacHamer can't do much about that.

Off tomorrow to visit my shrinking mother, who used to be six feet and is now shorter than I. (And yes, the doctor and I discussed calcium at length and scheduled a bone density test in the fall - with osteoporosis in the family, all the cheese I eat may not help.) My daughter Anna is coming in to Ottawa the following day and Mum's sister Do lives in the next building, so it'll be all the girls together in one small condo - perhaps a little bit of shopping might be necessary. Anna and I did not get nine days in Paris, thanks to the volcano. Instead we get a day and a half in Ottawa. Not quite the same thing, but we'll squeeze every bit of juice out of what we get.