and this morning the rabbits and squirrels are again running about the long-parched lawn in front of my window at Applewood, and the birds are poking their beaks into the newly softened ground. There is a softness in the air that we’ve not felt much of lately, and the light, too, is soft and not glaring, as it filters through the green of the trees. The cats, too, are lively, and playing about the house. Gala, our feral, has come in twice this morning, and she frolicked down the hall with Cider, her perennial foe. There are some easy chores to do, and it proffers to be a nice day, all in all.