My boss very graciously signed my vacation request, so today is the last work day of the week for me. Paid work, that is. There are always the neverending household projects and tasks awaiting the leisure-seeking vacationer on the home front.

It's overcast and cool, which is going to block any view of the International Space Station, right overhead in the evenings at about 8:15 for the next couple of days. Supposedly it's the next brightest object on view after the moon itself, but the cloud cover has put paid to that.

Finished "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" last night. Quite a clever plot and an engaging young heroine. For those of us with any functioning memory cells at all, there were a couple of unnecessary plot recapitulations near the end, but they were not so drawn-out as to detract from the overall quality of the book. Recommended.

Next on the virtual pile of books is "The Devil's Pitchfork" by Mark Terry. And for hold-in-your-hands reading, I'm working on essays by a naturalist whose name escapes me for the moment (Matthiessen?), recommended by Batty. I'm currently reading the chapter on Cesar Chavez, which fits in nicely with EmersonUUC's farm worker justice program.

Some days I'm astonished by the serendipity of things, when they're positive ones. When they are negative coinciding experiences, "astonished" is not exactly the word I'd use.

Today's accomplishment has been to edit the Emerson newsletter and set up employee work assignments for next week (and beyond). It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not answering serial phone calls (and being engaged in the subsequent research).