it's been nearly a month since i discovered one of my avocado seeds had sprouted. since then it's gotten a little bigger. it seems to want to grow a stalk before leafing out, as the leaves are still velvety and white (could also be lack of sunlight). i would put it outside to get more sun but i remember the last time i did that and how a squirrel immediately killed my avocado. i could still do it, just need some kind of cage protection. elsewhere, i have a surplus of tamarind seeds. i already have a dozen potted tamarinds, none of which have sprouted yet after presoaking the seeds until they burst. i still have more that are currently soaking, i think i'm just going to bury them somewhere in the yard.

my parents tried air frying some more frozen foods for lunch: some chicken fingers (300° 12 minutes) and some onion rings (400° 7 minutes). i wouldn't mistake air fried foods for actual fried foods; even though their fully cooked and juicy on the inside, the outside still looks dry, like foods that been under a heat lamp. fortunately i'm not too picky as to how my food looks. an air fryer is definitely convenient, even if it does take up a lot of countertop space.

today was so hot and humid i didn't even bother venturing out into the backyard to do any yard work. i was outside briefly in the late afternoon when i saw my father going out. i watered some plants with the rain barrel connected garden hose then inspected the squash for vine borer eggs. i've been hand picking the eggs for weeks now, i haven't seen any signs where the borers have gotten into any stems yet. i just think it's luck, no way can i be 100% sure i removed all of them, and it can just take one borer to kill a whole squash plant.

it seemed like a good day to try looking for the comet again, since it was clear for much of the day. but as evening approached, clouds started showing up. it seemed worse than yesterday, at least yesterday you could hardly see the clouds even though they were there; today they were very visible, zero chance of catching the comet. i almost felt relieved, since it meant i wouldn't be compelled to go back outside in the dark, hunting for NEOWISE, stung by mosquitoes.

i returned home relatively early. it was 82 degrees in the house, higher than what it was last night when i came home when it was just 78 degrees. i turned on the AC while i went to go use the bathroom and take a shower. once the room temperature dropped down to 77 degrees i turned off the AC, but it quickly went back up into the 80+. i turned on the AC for another hour before finally going to bed.