Rainy day doings

So I’ve cleaned the bathroom, washed the dishes, done the laundry, vacuumed and picked up, and cleaned out the refrigerator and wiped down the inside. And put the trash out for pick-up. Those are all good rainy day things to do. Now I think I can goof off without feeling guilty about it. I can’t decide what to do, though.

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Around noon, I delivered the lad to the train station. He’s off on an end of the week adventure with his Dad. They’re going to Lafayette to attend a freshmen orientation and class registration. When he comes home, he will know what his classes are and he won’t have to mess around with that when he arrives on campus. I don’t know whether Lafayette offers online class registration, but, at least this way, he’ll know what he’s getting and will even meet some of the professors before registering. That’s a great idea.

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Rain still falls. I suppose another positive I should mention is that this steady watering has made my new grass seed sprout and grow like mad. Three days ago there wasn’t a sign of new grass and I thought I might have to reseed. But this morning the new little blades of grass are almost an inch high. They look so healthy. There was fertilizer mixed in with the grass seed, so it has created a little oasis of bright green in the lawn. By the time the rain ends, I may even be able to gently rake off the cover of straw and mow the new grass.

As for the rest of the grass, it needs a shot of fertilizer already. The constant and enormous amounts of rain have washed most of the nutrients away. The grass has taken on that faintly yellowish cast, which says it’s struggling for food. Given that it’s growing in sand, I’m not surprised. Nothing much sticks in the soil for an entire season anyway, but, with this recent and more or less constant deluge, everything is starving already.

And on the wildlife front, there was a soggy squirrel parked on the deck railing for most of the morning. He also knows who is responsible for his food and peered into the house with the sweetest little expression. Squirrels have personality and they *do* have facial expressions. I opened the door and he stayed. I talked to him a little bit and cocked his head at me, but he still stayed. I apologized for no food, but told him he’ll have to go find something else to eat today. I’m not putting out fresh seed while it’s pouring out. It’ll just get wet and start to rot. He didn’t understand and he’s still there. He is the very model of persistence. When I let Terry out, he ran away. As soon as she came in the house, he came back. I feel kinda sorry for him.

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Okay, I think I’ll play some computer backgammon for a while. This is a particularly annoying computer game. I swear it’s stacked against the human player. Just when I have the game where I want it, the computer player gets a run of doubles. I mean, what is the probability of throwing double sixes and fives and threes, four or five times in a row? It makes me say bad words. But I still go back for more.