going to sleep under the influence of benadryl must be what it feels like to die. i get to a point where i can't really feel my feet anymore while lying in bed, that's how i know the drug is kicking in. and when i do fall unconscious, it's like being smothered, and i get worried that maybe i might stop breathing. i wonder what my blood pressure is like when i take benadryl, is it high or low. but it worked, and i slept well last night, waking up feeling refreshed, no symptoms for the time being.

it rained something fierce late last night, the sort of rain that made me worry if the gutters would come crashing down from the weight of so much rain. it meant i wouldn't have to do any garden watering today.

that monarch caterpillar that suddenly stopped eating yesterday and crawled to the center of the leaf? definitely a molt, because this morning it was back to eating again, with a different look than before, more monarch caterpillar and less nondescript worm. the other monarch egg has also hatched, producing a tiny caterpillar. the first thing the caterpillar eats is the egg case. the two caterpillars are a few days apart in birth, and most likely from different monarchs. bruce was thinking these might be 4th generation since we found so many eggs; these will become the butterflies that fly down to warm mexico to spend the winter.

it still seemed too hot to do yard work today, although it was far more comfortable than yesterday as it was only a dry heat. after doing some research online, i rode down to market basket in the afternoon to pick up some ingredients for making chicken wraps for dinner. by accident i came across a patch of milkweed at the intersection of harrison and mondamin in somerville. some leaves had aphid infestations, but others looked good enough to pick at some point.

high-level cirrus clouds painted the sky, indicating better weather to come. when i returned home i grabbed my infrared fisheye setup on my old nikon 4500 camera and biked back out to prospect hill to get some photos.

i bought a $2 powerball ticket from the liquor store, figured worth a shot, with the jackpot at $700 million. the most i've ever won in powerball was $4, when i managed to match just the powerball number. luck is a weird thing. although it's random, whether it happens or not we have a tendency to someone rationalize meanings to it.

i started preparing the chicken burrito wraps around 8pm. first i pounded the boneless skinless chicken thighs and seasoned them in olive oil, salt, montreal steak spice, and some fresh ground pepper. i then grilled the chicken on the foreman. i used 10" tortillas, adding the chopped chicken, a handful of chopped lettuce, a tablespoon of ranch dressing, and 2 tablespoon of italian cheese blend.

i've never wrapped a burrito before, but the trick they use in burrito shops is they steam the tortilla first. i didn't do that so the tortilla was a little dry, and then made drier when i heated it on the pan. the final result was okay, but i added too much salt. next time i might want to steam the tortilla first and then steam it again instead of pan heating it. and maybe add some rice and beans next time to really make it a more well-rounded meal.

i spent the rest of the evening streaming first season episodes of stitchers on the freeform roku channel. all episodes from 3 seasons are available with commercials, which i didn't mind, gave me breaks to get snacks or use the bathroom.

i've named my two monarch caterpillars catone and cattwo. both seemed to be doing well, on opposite side of the milkweed leaf, eating into the night.

i completely forgot about the powerball drawing and only remembered while brushing my teeth preparing for bed. i checked the numbers and of course i didn't match a single digit. later i read that there was just one winner tonight, someone from massachusetts, from watertown, just next to cambridge. so close!