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In pouring rain on Tuesday, we went to Truro to get a holiday tree. We’d been warned that people had been buying trees since before Thanksgiving. Since there are far more people on the Outer Cape since Covid there’s been more demand for many objects. So, why not trees? At least somebody is making a living.

We had planned to hold the dinner in the living room 12 feet apart eating on sturdy tray tables with the door and two windows open and the ceiling fan on. But the day was mild, close to 60 degrees @ 3 PM —Karen’s suggestion to dine. We realized afterward that we actually preferred having the enormous feed at that time instead of the evening, when we had always done.

Karen has a relative who raises turkeys and she is making a fresh turkey he sent her. Also the stuffing. Also antipasto. I’m making the pie, Le Potiron Tout Rond, leeks, and cranberry apple sauce. Tony is making a mushroom dish. There should be enough leftovers for at least a couple of days.

Joy at the election results, initial euphoria has been dampened by Trump’s efforts to annul the election, his firing of people who are not 100% loyal to him and his refusal along with Moscow Mitch to give the Biden team what it needs for a peaceful transition of power. Once again, some fear is constant…

I didn’t sleep the night of the election. It felt too much like 2016 revisited. Now I am resigned to whatever the outcome is, but I’m not in the despair I felt Tuesday night when I thought Trump had won. I don’t think media should report polls any longer. They are pure fiction.

The election weighs on me. Covid will go on and on and on if Trump wins or the Republicans manage to steal the election, as they’re trying to do. The economy will stagnate further. Many more people will die. Many more will be thrust into poverty.

Schwatzie has always been a laid-back cat. His weirdest habit has been an affection for mice he showed by catching them very carefully and washing them, fussing over them as if they were a kitten and never harming them. Then Thursday night …

Woody finally pulled the tomato plants. He brought in a huge basket of green tomatoes. Usually at this time, Melenie and I would make amber relish but she’s still sheltering in place in Western Mass. andI can’t get him fired up about making amber relish, although he loves it. How many times can you eat fried green tomatoes? I guess we’ll find out.

I was supposed to have a film crew here for a documentary on Marilyn Monroe for the BBC and possibly CNN, all on Thursday. I wrote a semi-famous essay on her about ten years ago, so they wanted me to take part. However, their suggestions for where to film were not options I felt were safe.

Last night I did a ZOOM reading from my new book ON THE WAY OUT, TURN OFF THE LIGHT followed by Q & A for the magazine DIre. It was fun and you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYEEkPOBcro

I finally have a copy of my new poetry book ON THE WAY OUT, TURN OFF THE LIGHT. We always collaborate on the cover. It was woody’s idea and I found the graphic. I’m very pleased with the way it looks. The official publication date is tomorrow, Sunday, September 30.

This holiday, we had only Bonnie and David, who are in our bubble, on the sun porch. It was chilly but the food was warm and so were our hearts. It was good to share the holiday, even if only with two good friends. But it was really cold.

I could kiss the person who invented Greenies. I tried every which way to give Schwartzie his antibiotic before we got some Greenies. Now he asks for the pill in the morning and the evening, because he loves Greenies. It makes pilling a cat perfectly simple…

Since the local animal shelter told me I couldn’t have the kitten I’d been promised, we have settled in with the three surviving cats. At first with Xena who ruled the house gone so suddenly, they were flummoxed. They seemed lost for the first weeks.

Finally, we have canned sufficient tomatoes: 51 pints of Italian sauce, 50 pints of tomatoes. I have hot sauce and simple sauce in plenty already. We’ve frozen 29 lbs. of beans, which should be enough also, but I’m sure totally sure we’re done with that.

Until yesterday, the week was pleasant and enabled us to work outdoors without going out by 7:30 AM and in by 9:30 at the latest. We continued to harvest beans – now up to 26 lbs. frozen. We put up 10 more pints of Italian tomato sauce.

It began as a hard week for garden work, although we were able to harvest enough ripe tomatoes to can 8 pints of Italian tomato sauce and 9 pints of tomatoes. That’s hardly any for the rest of the year, so we’re hoping to can more today or Sunday. The pole beans – green, wax and purple – have been coming in plentifully.

We got little out of Isiais until Tuesday night when for 20 minutes exactly the skies opened and a hard and much needed blessed rain fell. It was short but dropped about ½ inch here. It cleaned the air so I’m not having an allergic reaction to the pollution that hangs on in summer. Now we’re back to sun every day…

I had to cancel my juried intensive poetry workshop that I hold every year in Wellfleet in mid-June. First I postponed it for the first time in ten years because of Covid19. Everybody except two of the poets agreed to meet in October. I added one of the alternates but the other couldn’t do October. Eleven was fine with me.