2 days later, some of the caladium leaves have completely opened up, including a single small john peed representative. caladium leaves are actually pretty tough, very similar to cabbage leaves. nevertheless, a few still show signs of early slug damage, although not enough for me to camp out at nights with a container of salt.

the mystery melon has started to produce flower buds. not sure even after the flowers bloom that i'd be able to tell which kind of melon it is. but it won't be long before the fruits start appearing (especially now that the sun has returned), so i'll find out soon enough.

the potatoes are also blooming, which gives me an opportunity to see the similarities in flowers between close cousins the tomato and the nightshade. the potato flowers remind me of horse nettle flowers, so it isn't surprising that it too belongs in the same family.

when i returned to belmont, my sister told me she found yet another set of keys to my house. not only that, but there were actually two sets attached to the same key ring. that brings the grand total of copies of my house key to 4. had i waited just a bit longer, there would've been a key to let me inside my house and i wouldn't need to break in; but then my 4th of july weekend would be as dramatic as it was. my mother called me in the afternoon, told me she and my father were coming back home one day ahead of schedule from their scusset beach camping trip. despite the beautiful weather, all the recent rain had produced a spike in the mosquito population. later in the evening, my sister and i had a food fight regarding what to have for dinner. i wanted burgers but she wanted gyros. i threatened to leave but in the end we all ended up having gyros. still later, when my father rebandaged his hand, i got a chance to see the healing process, and how his burned hand now looks like a crispy piece of peking duck.