I worked a bit, then fell over for about an hour and a half—the weather out there is nasty. But thanks to Tim and Cheryl, local heroes, the pond and garden and fish tanks not only survived, but fared pretty well. Ponds and tanks have an ok/not-ok cycle, and having been fairly spiff for the wedding, they were in their not-ok phase. I chemically set them up to function safely, conservatively, if maintained regularly, and thanks to Tim and Cheryl, they came through better than I’d left them…

This was such a relief! We got back to 94 degree temperatures, and that’s just brutal hot. So it’s a great relief to not have to plunge back into pond draining and refurbishment immediately on getting out of the car—and more so to be able to plunge mentally into doing all the things I want to do on the current book.

I got 10% of it edited this morning, which involved sharpening some scenes with a surer knowledge of where it’s all going—this is how writers manage to sound intelligent, you know. Time is mutable and reversible…it’s called ‘editing.’

We were soooo bad while traveling. Our rule when traveling tired is ‘whatever you want, eat it’—and we did. Carbs like crazy. We’d were really afraid we’d gained a lot, because our clothes were getting a little, well, snugger than we like. But—we’d regained about ten pounds apiece, which is an easy fix if the weight isn’t ‘hard-set’, meaning it’s very temporary if it’s a quick gain. It can come right back off if we go back on strict Atkins. So…we’re back on the straight and narrow for a couple of weeks, and expect to be back where we were in about that time. It’s weird: we were binging on fast food, fries, (bad for my joints) tomatoes, bad for my joints, a whopping lot of carbs, like a hundred, two hundred or worse, with desserts and shakes and bread and chips, and we normally hold it to about 20 a day.

Well, end of the road: we both resolved we’re desperate for protein, and can’t stand the sight of a fudge delight double pigout sundae, no ‘m, downright unpleasant to contemplate same. Last night it was a chicken Kiev with broccoli, and couldn’t eat all of that. Today, Atkins shake, and Atkins chili for lunch. Supper will be Atkins. I’m already feeling a bit less stressed out. Thing with carb, your hunger goes flat, then spikes; you eat some more carb, flat, then a spike, and that goes on all day. For us, with Atkins-type levels, if not the official dinners, we eat enough, but the spike doesn’t come: no more high to crazy-making low, in which you’d eat wallpaper if that was the only choice. Works for us, at least. So we’ve definitely been off the diet long enough that getting back on is a relief. After the Amish Ovens stop, where I had unlabeled bratwurst, home made, I literally hurt so bad that I sat down on a bench at Wall and had to have Jane’s help to get up. My legs hurt, like sincerely hurt, even when sitting still. Now they don’t. So I’m pretty sure Jane’s suspicion about onion powder in the bratwurst was dead on. Stuff just kills me. And a succession of long days of driving didn’t help matters.

All better now. Pain has gone away. But that’s why I read labels, ordinarily. Onion in excess of, say, a teaspoon in a large recipe, onion or garlic powder in any amount, garlic in excess, potatoes more than one meal every few days, tomatoes, same deal—and the pain is quite persuasive this is not a good idea for me. Lord! This was a bad dose of whatever it was!

So we’ve had all the ‘fun’ we can eat, and it’s Atkins meatloaf for supper, quite happily!