the air was still, until it began to turn into a somber grey dawn. now the small birds in the shrubbery are chirping their good-mornings to each other while larger bird are calling out from the trees, stretching their lungs. its hard to make out the colors just yet; the grass is a strange mixture of grey and brown and the trees merely towering shapes in the early light. the roses take on a blue shade underneath the pink, and the leaves look silver.

i set straight the flower pots that were a casualty from last nights raid on the garbage can. despite my best efforts to secure the lid, that raccoon still got some trash to enjoy, though from the looks of it, tissue and a banana peel, it seems more likely he pulled it out just to spite me for not making it easy. ive seen this raccoon, or one of them, as the case may be, and hes a bold fellow (seems to be a characteristic of his family, i suppose). he is curious about the kittens, who sit there staring at him, wondering if he is their larger cousin, someone they could play with, or something they should be afraid of. i placed a bb gun by the back door, doubting ill ever use it.

im going to clean the assembly hall before this weekend's two-day session.