Early to rise. I want to take Charlie out for a walk before the dock. It’s cooler, so pleasant this morning, even though the day will turn quite hot, again. Feels fresh and the sun is out. Then, I take my bike, and the both my daughters meet me on the dock, and my friend is there, and we meditate and write and swim. I take a hearty one, the water feels lusciously fresh and calm. I work a little on notes for my poem, one that my friend asked me to write for an event Friday night, and it’s about the pond. I have so much to say I don’t know where to begin. Both my girls say how much the morning, starting this way, shapes their day so cheerfully. I spend hours working on the poem. It’s long. But I get a draft done, just by digging in and not stopping. Parts of it I like a lot. Tomorrow I’ll workshop it in the morning. And then it will be a mess, perhaps, and I won’t have time to be stuck. I’ll have to work it out. In the late afternoon, I make the cake with the zucchini my daughter has grown, from a recipe I found a week ago. I have set the bundt pan and recipe on the counter, waiting to see which one of us gets it done first. Finally, I am ready. I have never made this cake before. I want to surprise my daughter and delight her. We are out of vanilla. I substitute almond extract. I mix the dry ingredients and must run to her garden for more zucchini, small ones on their vines, and pluck them off. Wash, grate, dry with paper towels. The bundt pan is my idea. Into the oven it goes. It takes longer to bake than the directions say, and then it is done. I water my flowers in the garden while it cools a bit. Now, to get it turned over nicely onto a plate without breaking it. Success! I knew this would work. I mix up a glaze with some confectionary sugar, a little milk, and some coconut extract, because now we’re out of vanilla and almond. I drizzle it on warm all over the bundt. And, well, soon she comes down before dinner and first has her cake: it’s delicious! And I eat mine too. Here is the recipe if you have zucchini and you want to try it yourself.