28 June 99
Monday
Three weeks and I haven't much to show for it but this odd,
too-complicatedly-coded look for the journal pages...
Shall I keep it? This is something I'll
have to consider. Tomorrow. Really, I'd prefer something coded more
simply, more elegantly.
But the weather is too hot. And I'm too tired.
And I'm not feeling particularly clever.
These three weeks I have been working (at the cafe each evening, at
the library, at home),
and reading (see below),
and teaching (how do I prove it?), and learning (prove that!),
but I don't know why.
I only know there is always the next thing to do,
or read, or teach, or learn.
My right hand has not yet recovered from making the chocolate castle. The
thumb tip will not straighten out. It seems the upper thumb tendon
has quit. But I can still play the piano as well as ever I could
(which isn't saying much),
do calligraphy, slice strawberries, and type. Still, it's very
disconcerting not to have complete control. Perhaps I will consult
a specialist.
The sky is getting light. It's overcast, but the light is from
the coming sun, not the near-full moon behind the clouds. There is a
breeze stirring
and I hope we will get rain today. It is much-needed; we've been over
30 days without significant rainfall-- and that does not bode well.
The local aquifers are being depleted.
Last week the water trucks began making deliveries to
The Inland Sea (a man-made holding pond) that
feeds the power plant here in town. Last year the trucks delivered
loads of water every three minutes, throughout the day. There was a
cop on duty to direct traffic, and the roads were wet from dawn until
after dark.
There was supposed to be enough
water in the Blackstone River to cool the plant, but last year and
now this year, we've had drought, and trucks must bring water in.
They bring it from just across the state line,
from a large pond over in Uxbridge, saying that the
depredations will go unnoticed.
But that pond feeds the region's aquifer, and water doesn't recognize state
boundaries. Last year for the first time since 1947, the well at
the farm went dry. Uncle Smitty is keeping an eye on it this year.
If that well goes dry, others may follow. The wells in Slatersville
may all go dry to feed the power plant in
Harrisville...
The most frightening thing is this: the State of Rhode Island has
approved the building of another power plant in Slatersville. They
say it won't need water for cooling. But that's what they said about
the power plant here.
Ah, well, time to shut the back door against the
gathering heat and go to bed.
Come on, rain!
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