Terrific afternoon. Skip reads in the yard-chair next to mine. The unmown yard grasses nod and twitch their heavy seed heads in the little breezes, dandelions' spherepuffs white and soft irregular amongst them. Birds twitter and peep, occasional repeated soft dove coo-call.

dogApple lies on the ground between us, alert and panting, ears pricked to hear better the distant barks and yipes of her lonely yardbound dogfellows.

No sleep overnight. Caught a couple of hours 9-11 a.m. Pluto retrograde sits on my natal Sun yet again. Go, go, off with thee, damned planet. This is third or fourth minisleep day in a row. I fear the thyroid supplement is waking me up to old sufferings. So liquid melatonin etc stuff that used to work sometimes, not so much now.

It will pass. We'll find new strategies. I thought I shouldn't waste energy in struggling to sleep, but instead should simply shift my schedule 'round to write at night. But at night I have no words - no images, even. Only endless reruns of the day's events, pounding residual headmusic from evening TV.

Maybe I should just go to bed at 8 p.m. That way it will be a decent hour when the struggle finally ends.

But anyway the immediate world here is beautiful and calm today. Green and gentle and warm.

Thanks.