Summer is almost history. What a scary thought. But actually, my current mindset towards going back to college is the most positive it's ever been. It's the badminton. And surprisingly, decorating. A couple nights ago I even began going through old wildlife magazines and clipping the best photos for a future wall collage. Ah, collages. A sign of back-to-school.

Today I had to wake early to go do bartlett evaluations at McCarthy's orchard during harvest. That sucked, but not in the way I suspected it would. I thought I'd be overwhelmed and unable to keep pace, but I had plenty of time for reading breaks and exploring nearby woods. But, it was freaking hot out there, especially noonish to 1:45, which is when I packed up. I still love the feel of the freshly-picked pears in my hands. It's different than picking out pears at the store, for some reason. And the smell is wonderful. After that I came home, ate lunch, and headed to The Dalles. I purchased The Royal Tenenbaums and The Spine by TMBG. I've listened to it once, and so far I like Flood better. But then, I have to give it a few listens. And the cover is seriously the best. I took the winding road up to the wildlife clinic after Fred Meyer (which is in a state of redesign disarray), where I transferred a Cooper's Hawk to an outside aviary, prepared half a rat for a great horned owl, syringe-fed the bat, and cleaned cages. There is now a brown pelican, condition unknown, that was found along the freeway. It's not doing very well. I saw two does, one at the pond and one while Jean and I were driving. I came home and painted. I sketched a grizzly bear with a fish in its mouth a few weeks ago from a magazine and finally started painting yesterday. All that's left to do is the grizzly's face, which will be the most time-consuming and challenging. But I like the way the fish is turning out - I'd never attempted to paint a fish.

Yesterday was the waffle breakfast with Jonathan, which went well. He brought over a stack of his artwork - he's designing bosses for a video game, and his sketches were pretty neat. I think this prompted me to paint a lot yesterday. I also listened to music and wasted time on the internet. I didn't even get out of the house until evening when I went driving. I felt rather lazy for that.