I’ve finished most of the necessary preparations for my June juried intensive poetry workshop. I’ve gone over every day’s lecture, handouts, assignments; I’ve sent the poets everything they need to know before we get together; I’ve now read and annotated all their mss. I have to make a iist of stuff needed for the party at the end of class next Friday, but there’s no hurry as Woody will be in Orleans three times before the party [Orleans is where the supermarkets and produce store are locatedand also his gym.] We were able to take a day off this week and go into Boston, probably for the last time until September. Going on and off the Cape in the summer is highly problematic. We quit Omega, so we don’t have to make that trip – over 25 times was more than enough. in Boston, we bought groceries hard to find here [like Greek olive oil]. We went to a nursery for a few plants to fill in the gaps or replace plants that died. We hadn’t been to that particular nursery in years. It used to be very good when it was run by a woman who knew plants. Now her two sons who seem not to care much run it. Won’t go there again. Then we stopped at the Brookline medical marijuana dispensary and I stocked up for the summer. There are currently NO medical dispensaries on the Cape. Towns seem terrified of them. They don’t get it. People are not going to hand around outside stoned any more than people hang around drinking outside liquor stores. Also many of us medical marijuana users don’t use the stuff that makes you high. We want relief from pain or help sleeping or one of the specific medical uses that pinpoint something wrong like glaucoma. Not being able to use credit cards but having to carry lots of cash is a real nuisance, due to the federal government’s idiocy about marijuana. An increasing number of states are more intelligent about it. We live in the woods, so animals hang out here, pass through, move into niches. But mice not infrequently come into the house. One did this morning and Willow, the gentle white rescue with patches of brown and orange and black, caught and killed her first mouse. She is very proud of herself. Sometimes my gorgeous huge female beige and black tabby Xena bullies her. Both the male cats, Mingus and Schwartzie, adore her. She’s extremely seductive. She rolls around the floor exposing her belly, and the boys can’t resist. She is also very playful and affectionate. What she doesn’t like is either of them biting her neck when she’s trying to eat supper. She hauls off and whacks them when they try that. But normally she’s our most gentle, most timid cat. Visitors seldom see her although she has warmed up to my assistant and the occasional guests who stay over. From time to time, Xena gets jealous and bullies her and she goes into hiding. I have to coax her out and love her up. in the meantime, Mingus, the oldest and smallest of the cats, is going through a resurgence. He had not been feeling well. He had dental work and an operation on his eye. Now he’s feisty again, playing with the other cats or with us. He even tries to boss us around: where’s my supper? Why haven’t we had treats? Open the door to the sunporch, now! I want to sit on you now, now, now. play with me now! Not that toy! Xena is very emotional too and sometimes when I’m working on getting Willow back into the mix and into feeling safe and loved, Xena decides I don’t love her any longer and goes into a funk, so then she needs attention. It’s the same way with Mingus and Woody. But Schwartzie feels quite confident in his relationship with Woody and never seems to get jealous of the other cats. He seems to know how beautiful he is and proud of his big boa of a tail. We have the garden fully planted. Today I’m freezing rhubarb and Woody is staking tomatoes. Yesterday was our anniversary. We took a bottle of champagne to Moby Dick’s to celebrate. Woody had swordfish; I had lobster; we split the steamers. Tonight friends come to supper. Potroast.