July. It’s the BEST month for enjoying the pond. The water is warm and fresh and geese-free. I had my early swim, to the pump house, around the island, to the beach, back to the boat ramp. I felt terrific. And I had a poem, fresh from last night, about swimming, to bring to workshop. And it was well received. Frank left early; I didn’t see or hear him go. I got caught up on some work. The bunnies are not the culprit, I don’t think. It’s the ground hogs that are wrecking my hosta. After a nice birthday dinner, all three kids, Wave and my daughter’s boyfriend––dinner celebrating his birthday, and Wave looked into the yard, and there, inside the wagon full of new plants I set aside for the garden, was a baby groundhog eating the black-eyes susans. Climbed right in! Wave and I ran out and yelled at him. “it’s a good story,” Grammy, he said. Took Wave to Farm Pond in the late afternoon. Oh, July at the pond. To stay in the cool water in the hot sun up until dinner. Then the tough transition, getting out, getting home, and getting dinner done. It was such a cheerful night. Then poetry peers after dinner. Whoosh. A lovely day, despite the groundhogs.