Night before last, in an instance of his sometimes perfect congeniality, Friday brought me a small paperback copy of 'Huckleberry Finn'--to go on top of the copy of 'Tom Sawyer,' on the upper right corner of the monitor (of these presents) across from the little figurine of Dopey (which is also a gift from him) on the left--and I've been (re-)reading it, at bedtime and before naps, floating down the grandest, noblest river in the world, possibly the galaxy.

Planted dahlia tubers for Marianne today, an hour's pleasant work at noon, preceded by an hour's lively chat, tea and pot-smoking among Marianne, her chief gardner Wolf, and myself; succeeded by another rather milder but still fun talk and coffee between just me and Marianne. Thence home, ten dollars richer (eight, rather, since I bought a gallon of milk on the way). I was explaining to Marianne the new protocol of blogging: "As a friend of mine, and someone I know, I can never tell you the name of my blog: It would be indecent. Now, you may divine what it is, and you might--but if you do, you must never tell me." Funny thing, Marcus works as Kristen's regular gardener and has a wonderful employee/employer relationship with her; whereas Marianne in that capacity drives him nuts. I have sworn a mighty oath, for my part, so long ago that I no longer recall why, that I will die before I will, ever, work for Kristen as a gardener or anything else--and I find Marianne a totally unexceptionable boss. Marcus' and Kristen's both being Aquarius, and Marianne's and my both being Virgo, is what I put it down to.