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I rose on Wednesday without much of a plan. I did have two bagels from Emma, and one was soon toasted and covered in cream cheese. They are still a work in progress, according to Emma, and while not a bagel-like bread product, they were still not the same as the ones I got in NYC; they are still better than most here in the Pacific Northwest (thanks, Emma), and clearly a bagel. Thus fortified, and adding the last OP Bean coffee from Portland Coffee Roasters (so liberal that a few bucks from each bag is sent to Oregon Public Broadcasting), I began my morning.

It was another sunny morning, and I saw the hummingbirds searching the roses this time for pollen. I spotted the local squirrels carrying materials to hide or something. The grasshoppers are back. The dragonflies and damselflies often pass through. No cat patrols of late, and I have not seen a rodent running along the fence again. I am not sure if it is a mouse, rat, or something else, as it is fast.

Despite the desert conditions, the roses are blooming, with Mister Lincoln not wanting to disappoint anyone. The Herbalist, an impossible-to-find David Austin variety from 1991, is smaller but looks good. The other roses, while sporting smaller flowers, are all growing.

(Mister Lincoln)

(A David Austin Herbalist now only available in Europe, if there)

I was dragging after running the Call of Cthulhu tabletop role-playing game on Tuesday night, playing the same game the next morning, and having the colonoscopy on Monday. It felt like it was time to slow down for a bit. With the blog done and published, I strangely missed emailing it or posting it to Facebook (I did get it to Facebook on my phone), so I showered and dressed.

I painted my new Sultan Scythe figures. I am getting them further. The colors are gray, but I added more brass and silver shades to make them more 3D. I am still using diluted paints.

I was not sure what to do for lunch, but decided on BJ’s Brewhouse. I sat and was surprised that prices were now in the $25 range, but inflation is still above 2%, and the service industry had to endure huge increases (“surging profits” is the word that I read when looking at non-health insurance companies); it was not a real surprise. But what did surprise me was the $13 lunch offered on weekdays, which was 1/2 the size of the $26 version. Excellent. It was a suggestion from Chris, my soft-spoken bartender. I had sat at the bar.

With lunch inside me and having mostly read and skimmed the rulebook for the board game Brass for the newer Birmingham version, I returned home. I took a nap until 4ish. I picked up (having boarded Air VW the Gray and crossed Beaverton in our first after-school traffic this fall) Emma, and we enjoyed the Beaverton Carts for a 5ish dinner. I gave the rules to Emma and tried to explain Brass, but it is best to just dive in and experience it in a practice game (the practice game is highly recommended in the rules).

We arrive too early; today I am running early, and we wait at the church, but Emma gets to read more rules. Z, Dondrea, and the rest arrive about 6:30-ish, and soon we are about it. We assemble the board game, which takes some effort, as Brass: Birmingham has complex rules, many components, and lots of cardboard pieces to manage. The Praise Band practices and even plays the hymns for Sunday, as Brian, the organist and choir director, is out this Sunday, and thus they need to play all the music for Sunday’s service. We manage to get through the turns. Z struggles, as our last time playing Brass was a year ago, but soon Z gets it. Emma surges ahead, having read the rules and asking questions over and over that I can mostly answer. Z listens, and soon we are flying.

I was reading, as I was preparing to play Brass, that some universities use the game as an example of how capital is used to enable even more capital. How to use borrowing to enable progress, but also not to drown in debt and misspending. Capital cannot be held; it must be spent to increase income, cover borrowing costs, and enable more capital and even more borrowing.

We did not finish the first Epic or the practice game, but Emma and Z voted that it was fun and that we should play it again. We will get it out again. Next time, we should be able to finish the Epic. Also, practice will be longer when the choir returns in the next few weeks.

I dropped off Emma at her apartment, where the cats — she has two — are likely plotting. I understand the cats are of questionable sanity. I headed home, watched the depressing after-events Star City episode; I have only one left. I found it an interesting show, and the hour-long episodes fascinating, though dark. The word dystopian does not cover it; more like it is steeped in Orwellian anti-Justice and Stalinist terror.

I soon read in bed, but made no progress. I put aside my current book and tried something I found in Michigan, which better fit my mood, but soon nodded off. I closed the book, took off my glasses, managed not to drop them on the floor, and soon slept. I dreamed bright dreams of playing Brass, but this time, when you built something, it came into existence. Z and Emma were busy with their Empires too. Karen, the church treasurer, reminded me in my dream to increase my liquidity by taking out loans. I woke to prove hydration, but then returned to my dreams. I think I then toured my empire, which matched some of the features of Star City and rockets. As Chief Designer (dream logic can easily allow for a normally illogical change), I reduced the repression, but this lowered my liquidity. Morning came, and I woke. I do not remember if I improved my cash flow.

Thanks for reading.

 

I rose on Tuesday to my alarm at 6:30, made coffee, and was soon in the office writing the blog. I had a game at Richard’s at 9:30, but I wanted to finish the blog before heading there. I pushed through writing the story of Monday and the colonoscopy (a word I have now learned to spell), the prep, and the recovery. Again, thanks to Joan S for taking me and bringing me back. I also edited the transactions in Quicken to keep my view of my assets clear and available every day. This is for my information and to ensure nothing disappears due to an unexpected transfer.

I read my email (mostly deleting the ones I should unsubscribe from) and read the New York Times. Again, it is not that I am politically liberal; I just find the writing and the way the paper assembles a story educational.  Their stories, cooking information, and editorials are excellent.

I find my focus and complete the story in a few minutes, take a shower with some care, as I am only a day away from my procedure, and then do the usual shave and so on. I am running ten minutes late. Beaverton traffic is returning to the pile-on of back-to-school, and I add another five minutes to my tardiness.

The rest of the trip was unmemorable and the usual end-of-rush-hour slowdown. I arrived fifteen minutes late, and James and Richard had the game ready. We talked and knew something was wrong. We missed something in the play. We do not have the proper setting to play on. We discovered that others had made the same error, and we found that we had missed a log on some of the planets we sent way missions to. Oops. We replay the log and discover a story arc that allows us to reach a sector we could not reach in our current state. We make updates and corrections.

The app that runs the game, ISS Vanguard, informs us that we need to set aside extra time, that the mission will be casualty-laden, and that failure will be devastating. Rather dramatic. I have to leave at 2, and we start at 11:20, only to discover that we have a battle to fight and that we are playing under alternative rules to allow it. In this game, we have to make decisions and then apply the results. We make mostly good ones and lose two crew members. I cannot describe the material here, but it was a very immersive experience, and we did not know if we would win.

I managed to leave at 2, then enjoyed the early-afternoon traffic, made it to Office Depot to get some supplies and make copies of the character sheets for my Call of Cthulhu tabletop role-playing game (CoC), and picked up some double-sided tape to build some 3D props. With that, I headed home and tried to build some of the props. I managed to get the sword built. The buildings I was hopeless on (I missed the instructions in the box).

I finished the food I had delivered from The Cheesecake Factory last night for a late lunch. I started another episode of Star City and tried to relax. It is always hard for me before performing as Game Master or Keeper; I can usually find my way once we get started. I pick up Emma, and we make it to Rune & Board by 5:15, since Beaverton traffic isn’t on the back roads Apple navigation uses to get us there. Emma assembles the room for me and then even most of the buildings. We skip the island one as it is complex and a video is recommended. Yikes!

It is just M@ and Emma again. The store focuses on collectible card games and figure-based wargaming, such as Warhammer 20K. This is where the money is, and the staff are card folks. All good.

Eternity at Sea is the adventure from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, featuring amazing props (assuming you buy the prop box and game from them), some 3D elements, and even audio to play. It is set in 1920s Astoria, Oregon, and is creepy and a slow burn. It is good for a slow two-session or a rushed one-session play. It creates a building horror or creepiness that you don’t find in the more grab-your-Tommy-gun of some 1920s CoC adventure or the run-and-hide. This is, and I have played with Sean Branney before, the author, a more indirect cosmic horror play. It is a stand-alone story and perfect for this one-time play I am doing.

Emma and M@ slowly unwound the story, explored it, and learned the terrible secret and fate of its characters. They enjoyed the experience, and I did manage to run it without too many mistakes. I think I would need some notes next time. CoC stories, props, and story arcs are complex, and it can be hard for me to keep all that straight, keep the game moving, answer questions, and play various characters. Still, it was fun.

With that done, we packed up, and M@ headed out. Emma and I went for drinks and a snack at The 649. Kyle was bartending, and the place had few customers. We each had a beer, shared some nachos, and talked about the game and about family. Emma is curious about the stories. We chatted about Ben and weddings, but I tried not to tell stories that were embarrassing to her Mother, Barb C, and Ben was a good neutral topic.

Emma let me know that Tuesdays are out for her games. I have not prepared any material yet for next Tuesday, and I think that with us not getting any other players, it would be good to stop anyway. More to come on that.

I returned home, finished the Star City episode, and then read and fell asleep. I dreamed brightly, but nothing I can recall now. I remember waking, unsure when the dream and reality started and ended, then returning to sleep and the busy dream.

I woke with the sunrise. I regret not taking any photos of the CoC game. Thanks for reading!

I always cover the scenario that the colonoscopy will find a tumor of cancer, and I have only a few years then to enjoy my IRA money. That world cruise becomes a likely choice as I try to close out this life with nothing left for my estate. But only six polyps were found and removed. Nothing to be too concerned about, and it is unlikely to require concern anymore. Next, I have a CT scan including my neck, and if that shows no changes like the last two (the MRI of my head showed no change, and thus the tumor there seems to be gone), then that brings a close to this adventure with cancer and brain tumors.

Rising at 4:30 to drink the potion and then exit it, and whatever it carried, was the early and later morning. Just as annoying as before and left my lower end uncomfortable. In 2029, at the next colonoscopy prep, I will buy softer toilet paper! I had gotten into the habit of buying the cheaper, thinner stuff. I will splurge from here on!

I was tired and dizzy but still functional. The figures and some Call of Cthulhu tabletop role-playing material I put out to work on got no attention, and I made no progress. I finished my Japanese novel, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, and was less happy with its second half. I cannot recommend it, but I would suggest it is still a good entry point to new Japanese stories.

I also finished Season 3 of Ted Lasso, which is also the end of the stories based on the original show. Season 4 starts new stories, from what I can tell. I am not ready to start the new arc. Deborah has started the next season and said they pulled off a new start. Excellent.

Winter is coming. I am waking later and later as the sunrise moves to 6 and sunset to 8 in Oregon. It is still desert August, with cold mornings and hot 90+ Monday afternoons. I stayed in the cold, with the AC on, at the facility and at home.

Next, at 9:40 or so, Joan S picked me up, and we made a quick trip to NW Portland near Good Samaritan Hospital. We parked on the street, but the door would not open as the curb was too high. Interesting. I had not noticed that the curbs are too high in part of Portland. Some go back to the Great Depression, when the government, like during the Great Recession, undertook many shovel-ready projects. A few are even older, with horse hitches. I thought that horses don’t have doors, and cars and wagons were higher then, I guess. With some maneuvering, I was able to get out (and later back in). It was a short walk to the office; this was not in the hospital.

We went to the wrong office, and Joan S spotted the note to send us to the sixth floor. At the correct location, I checked in and was soon in the hands of Ben, an RN, who had me IV’d, put me in a gown, and put me in a bed. I met Ann, the anesthesiologist, who checked my answers to questions and then rolled me to another room with another nurse and Doctor H. I was happy to discuss my medical past, and Doctor H was able to recall that I had colon cancer and was up to date on my history. I was then happy to proceed. Ann got a huge plastic syringe, and what I soon realized was propofol (it can be quite painful), and she asked me where I wanted to dream about as a vacation: “Rome, the Dan Brown tour.” The pain in my hand was quite intense as she did a full push. She squeezed my hand as I did not enjoy the process; that helped, and the pain–or more correctly–I stopped.

I awoke to another nurse or nurse aide; I never read her badge and decided to rest a bit more, as I was not quite myself. Likely ten minutes later, quite happy to be over this and reading the report (six and no concerns), I returned to my swimsuit, sneakers, and Kolchak T-Shirt and was soon out. The T-Shirt, part of the swag from a Kickstarter to republish the original book that started it all (here is the amazing opening credits scene of the TV series). I explained the shirt to some folks who had not heard of it. I have been tempted to write a fan story, but the material is still copyrighted and would have to remain within fair use and fan-level guidelines.

Joan S was able to drive me home (she had a misadventure, but that is her story to tell), and we stopped at Gyro House to get me a to-go lunch. I thanked her (THANKS, JOAN S!!!!!!), and she headed home. I ate too much food, but I was still flaky and should have stuck to just the soup. Joan had reminded me to text Deborah, and that was about as far as I got (I forgot to send a note to Linda, my sister, and others later, too). Deborah found it fun that I was still high on propofol, and we had a silly chat. All good. It was good to be silly again after recent events.

I slept until 5. I woke up, and I was dragging and slightly nauseated, and things were still adjusting post-procedure, and again I regretted my toilet paper choices. I started the alternative history Star City on Apple and found it an interesting retelling of the successful Soviet space race in the 1960s-70s, with the horror stories of the Gulag and state-led surveillance. The show tells the story of the cosmonauts, scientists, and engineers through recordings from the bugged rooms (which give the audience an explanation of how we know so much about the characters). I find myself cheering the Chief Designer and hoping they can stop whatever nefarious plans the US has to stop them or to steal their secrets. While dark and awful, the story arcs are interesting, and I love a good spy story, and this had rockets and space travel. I really enjoyed it and binged through four hour-long episodes. It is, from what I read, a one-season show and related to For All Mankind, which I might have to watch too.

I was still not feeling that well. As I said above, I skipped any meaningful work and did brain cookies like Star City instead. I looked at various DoorDash offerings, and nothing worked for me. At one funny moment, I found all these new places to order from and realized I was delivering this to the hotel I stayed at in St. Louis. Hmmm. Yes, propofol leaves you less capable than you realize!

I finally decided I was hungry, ordered from The Cheesecake Factory for too much money, and had their most excellent Chinese-style salad delivered with a banana cream cheesecake and two scoops of ice cream. It was lovely, and I felt much better. I had 1/2 of it, and the ice cream was delivered still frozen! The rest is in the fridge/freezer for Tuesday’s quick dinner.

Fed, and it was now past 10:30; after another Star City episode, I headed to bed. I read some more of The Yellow King by Richard W. Chambers, an acquaintance of H.P. Lovecraft, finding stories I do not recognize in this special (and expensive) annotated version I purchased from Subterranean Press. 

Thanks for reading.

 

I rose on Sunday, aware that the day would be much less interesting. I had just church and then was taking the prep for a colonoscopy on Monday. The blog will not be that interesting, I am afraid. I made coffee, a clear liquid, and had only warmed chicken broth or ginger ale for the rest of the day and into Monday. I was a bit lightheaded by Sunday afternoon and spent most of the day at home after drinking the prep, returning the prep and water, along with anything else that went with it. Ugh!

I rose around 7, having woken with the sunrise, and rolled over. I made fresh coffee by grinding OP Beans and started on the blog in my office. We are back to desert-like temperature swings, with 50-60 in the morning and 70-80-90 in the afternoon. The rains may return in ten days, in September, as usual.

I was able to assemble a story for Saturday from my memories. Grammarly and I fought over a few words, and Deborah spotted one word that was still mangled in the text. I got that published and then showered and dressed. I selected, as usual, a dress shirt, sweater vest, and pride tie for today. I got a text from Dondrea that she was there early for the filming. She and her work partner, Brian, are cutting a video for the church at a reduced fee, and today they are getting the ‘B’ roll to be edited in. Later, she told me she was flying a drone to get that cool overhead shot.

I took Air VW the Gray to Beaverton First United Methodist Church near the park, just out of Old Town. Parking was difficult, and I had to turn around and park after someone pulled out. I was early, and the previous service was still winding up with coffee and donut holes, and there was a city-sponsored picnic at the park. The library parking lot was full of food trucks and other vendors for the event, reducing the available parking.

I remembered to bring the copies of the Missionary Leader books and was soon doing my job as usher. Ken’s sermon was long, and I thought he started over once. Ken explored, in a rather dark sermon, the idea of religious people carrying a Bible in one hand and a stone in the other. While Jesus said that the first one without sin should throw the first stone, Ken suggests that instead Christians have been throwing stones with some enthusiasm. Ken insists we need to stop that attacking and anger and “drop the stone.”

Brian R picked some excellent organ pieces to play and to sing too. He got applause for the opening. We ran over, and Dondrea and Brian were busy filming.

I headed out as I was already getting dizzy and tired. I reached home without issue and sat down for a while. I did not manage to get much started or done before it was 3, and it was time to enjoy the potions for my cleaning. Ugh! The reaction was nearly immediate. I never had to run to the toilet, but I did not wait long after the first rumblings.

I wrote an email to the Dungeons & Dragons group who were playing today, saying that my character, named Carter, was collecting material to make stories about devil lords in our adventure; the adventurers are on a mission in the D&D version of Hell. I try to have a story for when I can’t play; thus, my character adds to the story even when I can’t play.

Carter collects lots of supplies for bookmaking: tools, inks, gold leaf, pens, powered gems, small, cheap but good-looking gems to attach to binding, brass strips to make corners, brass locks, good leather (from local cows), and a few reference books on Hell (mostly cheap tourist pamphlets and published interviews with various infernal leaders). Carter has discovered a set of wonderful stories about Asmodeus in disguise and performing all sorts of amazing, impossible thefts and love affairs throughout Hell and the planes. A Don Juan and the Saint at the same time. These stories, while likely false, Carter believes they should be true. He is sure these stories will be well received by Asmodeus, especially with publishing rights across Hell, and thus a source of income and an improvement to his standing in the local community. This will make a wonderful gift and opportunity to serve without a contract or doing anything more to the local traditions (seven deadly yet recommended sins, punishing victims, and so on).

M@ suggested some story titles:

“From Stygia with Love”
“The Devil Wears Prada… and Nothing Else”
“The 7 Deadly Sins Ranked Worst to Best”

Corwin stopped by, and I put on the first season of Slow Horses for him, which he did not know about. He liked it. I was nodding off as I continued to travel and drink Ginger Ale to stop myself from starting from both ends. Ugh!

What was going to pass was done by 9ish, and I read and watched Ted Lasso until after 10. I then went to sleep, only rising once; I woke at 4:30 to my alarm. More prep, ugh!

Sorry for the rather uninteresting story. Thanks for reading.

 

 

I rose early-ish and was going by 7:30. The sky was gray, and blue broke through as the maritime clouds burned off. My roses are ignoring the lack of rain for weeks and are full of blooms. The flowers are smaller on some plants, but my climbers are full of the usual David Austin English roses; Wedgwood is the variety.

The hummingbirds are slurping up any bugs that have survived the weeks of no rain. I also saw a huge bright red dragonfly that was at least four inches long zip in, freeze, and zip out of the yard. I had not seen it before. Wow! The grasshoppers, another of my favorites, seem to have moved on. I saw them flying up and down a few weeks ago. Their life cycle may have been completed, and/or they were found delicious by various birds and other hunters. The apple tree is weighted down with apples, and some of the fruit are not completely wormy. I leave them for the animals and watch the animals. I imagine the apples fermenting, and my backyard is the local hard cider house for the furry and feathered locals as winter comes.

It is always hard to imagine now that my brown, desert-like backyard was green, mossy, and flooded to the rose bush during the rains. Six to eight inches of water in the corner! The rains start soon in September as the heat low in Death Valley cools (it is already down to the eighties) and stops pushing storms out. In October, the storms flow back into our valley from the coast. There is no reason to expect less rain than last year.

I invested the morning in coffee, reheating it in the microwave, and writing the blog. I was able, with some effort, to make a good story out of Friday. It was hard to recall the day, and Grammarly and I fought over the words as it made some strange edits. I did not notice everything it had done (I often want spelling, plural, and comma updates but not word changes). I revised them back and ignored some hints and suggestions. But generally, I let it fix the small things I would catch on a reread. To be able to write this blog every day (it is not far from stream-of-consciousness writing), I use Grammarly to fix the small stuff so I don’t have to rework it into a second draft. I often find that Grammarly wants to rewrite my sentences because I have missed a word. When I add the word, it is appeased and leaves me alone.

With the blog done and chatting with Deborah for part of the morning, Saturday moves to the afternoon. I reheat a chicken thigh with mushrooms (over-salted) and try out the new microwave with a plate, and it works as expected. I was going to stick to soup, but some protein seemed a better idea. I did not have it with anything, trying to reduce my intake to hopefully make the output less of a messy story with the colonoscopy prep party on Sunday evening and early Monday. I am an IT professional, and I know a lot about input and output.

I shower and dress. The scale is still showing 228 pounds. I go with casual for today.

Next, I enjoy more Ted Lasso season 3 episodes, and Corwin stops by. He tries his steam cleaner on the carpet stains. The dark bits on my brown carpet have been there for years, but new carpet or professional carpet cleaning has not been on my list (the amount of stuff that would have to be moved is nothing I want to experience again). It works, and the carpet is better. Excellent. Corwin heads out as I watch more Ted Lasso and then start on figures.

Next, I washed the new Scythe figures from the game Duel of Moloch, as well as two extra Call of Cthulhu figures from Etsy, to paint. Dish soap and water, taking care not to damage the 3D-printed figures, which are more fragile than hard plastic figures. I let them dry, then set them in the sun to dry further. I then, and this is always startling when you do it, paint them flat black using Chaos Black from Warhammer as the spray-on primer. One coat nearly works. A few additional sprays are needed, and I have to hold one figure and get black on my hand. I use a mask for most of the work.

When dry, I hand-paint the bases with my usual go-to Army Painter paints. I let that dry for about 40 minutes. The figures start to look 3D with just those changes.

I watch a bit more Ted Lasso and read some church paperwork. I then get out the special dry-brushing-style brushes, which are like larger brushes but with the tips cut off. I then take a tiny bit of white paint, brush it out on a paper towel until it is less, and then use the brush to color the surfaces to create a contrast between deep features and surface one. It looks like an X-ray.

I will touch up the base coat after I am done. I then get out my paints and a dilution solution that prevents foaming, and mix my Army Painter colors to be more of a flow paint than a coverage paint. This allows the white to be painted, or more like colored, with the dilution, while the dark pushes through the color, creating a weathered, shaded look.

I manage to spill paint, and with that, I stop painting for a while. My rule is two mistakes (I had dropped a figure without casualty earlier), and it is time for a long break (it also lets the paint dry, and the colors stabilize, as some paints do not dry to the color you thought). I cleaned up the mess; light brown paint on light brown carpet was not a loss, and I managed to get it out of my pants by treating the spill with Dawn dish soap and washing them immediately. Acrylics are a lot more forgiving than enamels and other oil-based paints.

I grabbed my copy of the board game Vestige and my new Quantum Computing book from No Starch Press (recommended at Hope 2026) and took Air VW the Gray to Cedar Hills’s Panera Bread for soup for lunch. I arrived without issue; traffic was light. I soon had a very hot bowl of Chicken Noodle soup and read the Nemesis rules for Vestige and reviewed extra cards from my Kickstarter awards. I added them to the game and decided that the Nemesis rules add a crushing level of complexity and would be best for cooperative play. Yikes!

I was still hungry. I had a chocolate chip cookie (no nuts) for my meal and read about coding quantum computers. I did not finish the introduction, as these technical books — this one is more than an inch thick — cover how to use and read the book before you even start chapter one. It was time to head to Richards; I wanted to arrive a bit early to set up the game.

I was 15 minutes early and started on the game. I did the teaching, but it was always hard going, as Richard and Kathleen kept poking holes in the rules, and we had to find answers. Richard discovered I had missed something: that jobs have to be picked up and dropped off at different locations. We also learned that chop bots are immune to certain effects, as they are not contacts. This slowed us, and the turns went slowly at first.

Kathleen and I suffered bad rolls on completing jobs and lost many contacts. Richard went for the land grab following a Vindication strategy—this game is a reworking of Vindication —and it landed him in second place. Laura took the game by about 10 points ahead of Richard, managed to play all the roles, and was deep into the process (how I think the game should be played). Kathleen, with her losses from bad rolls, was ten points behind Richard, and I was last by another ten points. I missed play, as did Kathleen, and the bad luck on rolls was crushing. It was an intense game, and the random End-of-Game conditions did not fire until after hours of play. Unusual in my limited experience with this game.

The verdict was that another play is needed, but generally it was enjoyed. The $49 price tag for the “Wretched” version makes it a cheap game, and the small box makes it less trouble. The Swanky version is much the same. The “all in” for $180 adds lots of moving parts. I think the “Wretched” already has enough rules and parts. Richard, I could tell, was tempted to pick one up: the “Swanky” version. Laura thought she could buy it.

I returned home, and even though it was late, I sat down, switched to my 3x protective glasses, and resumed painting. Again, I diluted my paints and then worked on the character and the mechs for the Scythe. I wanted to see how they looked with some paint, let the new work dry overnight, and see how they would color.

I read for a while and remembered my pills. I soon fell asleep, waking once to check my hydration level — it was fine —and woke at 6, thinking it was still early. I dreamed I needed to dress and was soaked in water and paint. There was a power failure, which made it difficult. I woke.

Thanks for reading.