Last Sunday we met with Chuck Cole, who runs a family owned cemetery in South Wellfleet. I want to have a green burial and I talked Woody into the same thing. I don’t want my body filed with formaldehyde and other carcinogens that will leak into the soil. I see no reason for my body to be put into a fancy coffin or a huge vault. I want to be given back to the earth. It’s possible to do that in the South Wellfleet cemetery. Many long time Wellfleet residents that Woody and I have known are buried there. We picked a spot against the back fence with a young oak growing there. This may seem morbid but I believe in making arrangements myself rather than dumping them on Woody if he survives me or on the executor of the will if we die together. I don’t think it’s fair not to recognize I am going to die and leave a mess for someone else to clean up. I saw enough death in my childhood to have always known that everyone dies and it’s a natural phenomenon. I think children are sheltered from death now and so are adults. It’s so sanitized and pushed away. That cemetery is a pleasant place. The other choice was to be buried in a Jewish cemetery that follows traditional burial rules – which is a green burial. But I want to be buried in Wellfleet, the place I have been happiest in my life and the place I call home. Thursday we finally got into the garden. I took two lavender plants and put them into the new raised bed herb garden. In the raised beds in my vegetable garden, I took the salad bowl lettuce seedlings from the greenhouse and tucked them in along with 7 kinds of lettuce seeds. I also planted seeds of arugula, garden cress, red and white radishes and chervil. Woody plowed for me and then he transplanted the two kinds of broccoli I started last month. I can’t express how glad it made me to be able to get into the garden and actually plant. I can’t kneel on my plastic and titanium knees, but with the raised beds, I can garden. I am able to move around much better than I could last year or of course several years before that when my knees were weak and very painful. Before the first operation. I could barely walk across the room. Tomorrow, weather permitted, I want to uncover the tree peonies and perhaps the roses. I think it’s time. We want to move the bok choi and the red cabbage seedlings into the main garden. I think the cilantro is ready to go out too. I also have to thin the tomato seedling in the greenhouse. In fact, I need to go over all the tender plants that are sitting on the heating pads and thin them. We won’t have as much time today as Woody has a meeting at noon in Ptown and I have to put together my two readings for next week,as there will not be any other time to do so. I’ve written two poems this week. I gave a reading Thursday night at Preservation Hall with the winners and honorable mention poets from the regional contest; the winner of the national contest also came from Vermont Laura Foley and read her winning poem. I read for a short while at the end, all new poems except for one from MADE IN DETROIT. We had a good crowd. It was a benefit for WOMR, community radio with which Woody is very involved. Tonight we’re going out to eat at the Bookstore Restaurant with Dale and Stephen. Stephen’s birthday is Monday and my 80^th is Thursday.I wrapped Stephen’s presents Wednesday. After the restaurant, we’ll come back here for dessert and exchange gifts. Sunday, we hope to get into the garden again.