I have a few weeks of nothing. nothing. nothing. So I have decided to read Lord of the Rings--this has been great because I have not seen the movies. I do not live in a hole, though, so I have been having fun trying to guess which characters in the book match up with the characters I have seen in advertisements for the movie. I think I have it figured out.

Also it makes me very happy that everyone in Tolkien's world finds the deepest joy in good beer and good pipe tobacco. I certainly have had my share this summer as it goes.

You (whoever that is) will certainly hear more from me this summer: it feels good to be done.