Pounding fragrant things - particularly garlic, basil, parsley - is a tremendous antidote to depression. But it applies also to juniper berries, coriander seeds and the grilled fruits of the chilli pepper. Pounding these things produces an alteration in one's being - from sighing with fatigue to inhaling with pleasure. The cheering effects of herbs and alliums cannot be too often reiterated.

~ Patience Gray

To solve the problem of no water in the house, I took a four and a half mile run in the woods with Charlie and it was quite muggy, quite hot, still summer. Then, I hopped in the car and drove to the beach at Farm Pond, planning to just jump in and refresh enough to start the day. The sun was glorious above me, and the water was actually completely comfortable. So I took a good swim, and it was the sweetest swim of the summer, even though, it’s now fall. There was no one there but me. I came out of the water smiling and clean to start the day. Got right to work—a poem to revise for tomorrow. The doorbell rang and the pump men arrived and very quickly solved the problem: nothing was broken. Something had become unplugged. A mystery. A happy mystery, and the faucets ran. It rained a bit when I was running; then the sun came out again. Crazy weather, happy weather. I got a draft of a poem. I sent off the manuscript draft of my poems from letters to my publisher. I submitted batches of poems. In the late afternoon I went to the garden and picked one of my last eggplants, a purple beauty. And grabbed a fat handful of fresh basil. Made my eggplant parmesan exactly as I like it: breaded in seasoned panko bread crumbs, fresh parmesan, and sauteed til crisp in olive oil, then baked in a simple tomato sauce with the basil and fresh mozzarella. Oh. It was perfection.