Return

Mars trails the slightly gibbous moon. The stars are dim. Sprightly breezes dart about, and the pines hum softly, but otherwise the night is placid. The crickets fell silent an hour ago. As the final hour of darkness arrives, I see Orion rise, for the first time this summer clearing the trees fully before the approaching dawn fades his lesser stars. It's nice to have him back. His rising marks the arrival of longer and cooler nights, and he will watch over the season of decline and the chill winter. I'm always pleased by his arrival. In a few minutes, he will vanish into the brightness of morning, to stride invisibly across the sky all day. But each night in the coming weeks, he will appear earlier, and the welcome autumn will follow.

Re-toothed

I think I saw a bat swooping through the twilight. It was a dark form that appeared to fall, then suddenly soared and vanished over the rooftop. It might have been nabbing an insect in mid-flight, but it moved so swiftly in the gathering dark that I didn't get a good enough look at it to tell if it really was a bat. It certainly didn't look like a bird. I like bats.

I didn't get jabbed with needles after all. The dentist just yanked on the temporary crown, and it came off with not too much pain, so I decided to forgo the anaesthetic. That's always best when seating a crown, as you better feel how it fits. The only problem I have so far is that it is still very sensitive to pressure. If that continues, it might call for a root canal, but that would be costly, so I'd probably put it off as long as possible and just chew anything tough or crunchy on the other side of my mouth. I'm hoping for no complications, especially for the next few weeks, as my dentist is going on vacation until the middle of September. I wouldn't like having to deal with a substitute.

Even without the Novocaine, having dental work leaves me feeling weary. I'm just going to kick back tonight. Mindless television again, I think.