This weekend was the balloon festival. My friend, Barb, from college came to visit. We went to see the Friday evening ascension. It was incredible to be out on the field surrounded by all these huge balloons, magical to watch them lift up, seemingly lighter than the air itself.

We’ve had a lovely relaxing weekend. I opted out of all commitments and enjoyed my time with Barb. Dave was busy with the Revels North Solstice Celebration, which we also attended. Today is hot hot hot and I think we will go for a swim in the lake.

The garden is getting lush — peonies, sweet william and foxglove are out. I planted a bunch of stuff on Sunday. Luckily the gray weather stayed one extra day to give everything a chance to get better established.

Yesterday we met my violin teacher and her husband, Ashley and Damir, for a walk at Dewey’s. The idea was to introduce their dog and Cammy so that we could dogsit Pancho next week. It seemed like a good idea, but Cammy was completely uncooperative. I was sad and embarrassed that she snapped at poor little Pancho. He was quite brave.

It was hard to stay mad at Cammy today because she’s quite sick — probably from eating something completely unsavory at Dewey’s last night. She woke us up at 3 AM and made further sleep impossible. I watched her closely all day and finally called the vet at 3 PM. I’m sure he thinks I’m a nut for worrying about my dog so much, but it also keeps him in business. She’s still quite unhappy, but she’s got some meds that seem to be helping with her “Garbage Gut”.

Apart from the dog fiasco, we had a nice evening with Ashley and Damir. They’re a sweet and very talented couple, but I’m afraid they will not want to stay in Vermont too much longer. It’s not an easy place to be young–and the opportunities to play serious music here are somewhat limited. I don’t think I could have lived here when I was in my twenties. It’s exactly what I need now, but I wouldn’t trade any of the other places I’ve been to have gotten here any sooner. If they move on, I will miss them — especially Ashley because she is such a good teacher — but I’m sure they’ll do well wherever life takes them.

Tonight was Dave’s Marshland Farm acoustic evening. I missed last week because I was so sick. It was apparently quite the hootenany (does anyone say that any more?). Tonight was low key but good. Kerry came to sing and play guitar. Geoff and Jed showed up later. Kerry has a fabulous voice. We were outside on the porch. A lovely evening.

I haven’t been up much for writing anything lately. Life is a bit chaotic and unfocused. Our office reflects how unsettled I am. The papers are piling up — our filing is way out of control. I’ve been putting off dealing with it until the move in the the new office.

The garage/office project is moving along quickly. The second floor is all framed. There have been mishaps. One of the guys shot a nail through his finger with the nailgun. Those guns always made me nervous. The day after the incident, I heard a nailgun go off. Someone said “Ouch!”, waited a beat and then said “Just kidding, Mark!”

In an attempt to shuck whatever it is that’s getting to me, I’ve started running a little bit in the mornings. We get out to the Green by 7:30 AM and I do a couple of laps while Dave walks Cammy. We’ve been having a heat wave, but the air is still refreshing at that hour.

One bright spot is the Renaissance choral group we started earlier this summer. We’ve been getting together Thursday evenings.

Another simple pleasure is the garden. Something new blooms every week. But even that adds to the feeling of being overwhelmed when I see the weeding I should be doing.