Dear Family and friends,

A bouquet for you all that came to me via email!

Yesterday's lunch with Florence and David was pleasant, low-keyed. They are easy to be with, though they are so peripatetic that it can be difficult to catch them when they are in their home in Glen Head. They are young and active, though retired like us. Florence brought a mixed salad and a fruit salad dessert. Merwin made his excellent portobello mushroom dish.

He sliced, and then marinated in my vinaigrettee dressing, portobello mushroom caps, about 1 very large cap per person or more. Cover and refrigerate till ready to complete preparation, over night (or more). drain the slices lightly, and broil till brown on both sides. In the meantime, slice slabs of cheddar cheese for topping and slice tomatoes to be added individually. We used Ciabatta rolls, cut in half horizontally and toasted lightly. When the mushroom are toasty on both sides, add the slices of cheese and return to broiler till melted. Using a spatula, carefully lift onto toasted roll; cover or not. Merwin served these open faced. I was the only one who had two of these. I wish my appetite were not so enormous. I hope I can lose this prednisone weight once I get off of it entirely. Down to 10 mg. this week.

The dressing is important: In a blender put a small onion and as many garlic cloves as you can stand (6?). Add a hefty spoonful of apple butter (this jam-like concoction has no butter and no sugar added and helps to emulsify the dressing), any herbs you might have around (like fresh basil, dill), 1 heaping teasp Dijon mustard. Add 1 C white vinegar—the best choice—and blend until solids are Incorporated. You can substitute balsamic for perhaps 1/8 of the Cup of vinegar, but balsamic is sweet, and you don't want (I don't want) a sweet vinaigrette. Slowly add 3 C of sweet oil while blending. Mixture should be reasonably heavy. Keeps in refrigerator for a long time.

Later that day I learned that my essay had finally been unconditionally accepted. You may remember that I got a very good first letter with readers' comments, suggesting a few improvements. Actually I revamped the essay quite a bit, finding more information to support my argument. I got more or more pleased with my essay. I warned the editor that I had added more since resubmitting it, but that didn't bother him. So now I am un-piling the papers that I had pushed into one pile and spreading them out on the table that earlier doubled as our dining table. I am eager to put this baby to bed.

I had a Skype chat with Satyaki, who is helping me with hamletworks.org, and I have reined him in a bit. He is eager to do everything, but what we need now is just the bare minimum. Much collating needs to be done, and for that Satyaki needs the editions from which he can capture data. On another hamletworks.org front, Nick is speeding ahead with his student aide and with his excellent ideas for improvement of the site.

I didn't return yet to another reading of Harvey's essay. Merwin will read it first, add in his comments, and then I'll go for it again.

My friend Jim sent horrific news of New Orleans and Florida: he lives and works in the former and recently visited the latter—and he paints a sad, dreadful picture of lives destroyed, human and animal. By the last day in Florida, the brown crud had infiltrated the beach there.

On the agenda today, another visit to the p.t. I had lots of pain yesterday, more than usual, who knows why. Perhaps the previous day in NYC? I had to take the strong pain pills. I hope to be better today. It's a bit scary, though.

Love to all,
Bernice