i went back to sanding today. it all seemed very automatic. there was no one home to tell me what to do, i gathered my equipment, put on my gear, and then started to sand. during the time i was gone, my father seemed to have disassembled the scaffolding to the right of the front door and put down some plastic tarps on the ground in its place. that's where i worked, doing the lower shingles, first with the belt sander, then finishing with the orbital sander. even though it was hot, in the shade of the northern face of the house it wasn't that bad. when my mother came home with hailey sometime after noontime, that's when i stopped.

i always seem to lose interest in the garden come late summer. all the vegetables are grown and sampled, there doesn't seem to be much left in terms of novelty. maybe this year i might want to try some cold season plants in the fall. jerryrig a DIY cold frame, we could have a supply of fresh greens even into the winter months.

i played bubbles with hailey in the backyard a little bit before coming back inside.

laura came home around 11:30. they went to dinner in the north end. she was not impressed with the italian food there, especially with their order of carpaccio, which is supposed to be raw beef but the consistency was more like jerky. i learned that she's actually in town for a massive conference of astrophysicist worldwide, about 200 or so, congregating here to present and share their findings.