“July, with its days of blue skies and time that seemingly stands still, holds a special place in my heart.”

I was going through my indoor camera footage from last night, and I saw something that made me jump. 
A hooded figure stepped out of the dark hallway around 2 a.m. 
For a minute, I thought I had a ghost in the house. 
Then I remembered Raven, and sure enough, it was just him heading to work. 
I still can’t figure out why he was wearing a hoodie in July.

It was an unusual day, with Badger awake and roaming at 7 a.m. 
She went in and catnapped Fox out of the laundry room and took him to her room.
Her roaming, and I think Lady was barking, got me out of bed at 7:30 a.m.
She and I took a quick, quiet little walk around the block. 
It was still reasonably cool, and no one was out, and that included biting dogs. 
I rather enjoyed it. 
I like walking early in the morning, but don't like walking alone.

I came home and got the kitchen cleaned up. 
We've been having more dishes than the dishwasher can hold, so I've just left them soaking in the sink.

The mail person sneaked in. 
Peacock got more books. 
I brought them inside, and luckily this time I was holding them by their sides.
 I set them down on Cowboy's chair, and Badger took her package to her room. 
She came back in and said, “Is this blood?” 
Her package really did look like it was covered in blood. 
Peacock’s package also had bloody dribbles. 
We scrubbed our hands well, and she threw away her envelope.
 I probably should have reported it to the post office, but I didn't want to fool with them.

Heron came up to get ready for work. 
These days, the RV is good for little more than sleep. 
It’s slowly falling apart, something nobody really mentions when you turn an RV into a full-time home. 
If he had the time and money, he could hire someone to fix the bathroom, floors, fridge, and stove.
But he doesn’t. 
So he comes up here to shower, use the bathroom, and cook.

Badger went off to her room to do whatever it is Badgers do when they disappear behind that door.

I actually got a little bit of work done for once. 
Peacock dragged a box out of my closet, thinking it was the one with his busted class ring, but he grabbed the wrong thing entirely. 
It had been sitting in the living room since Sunday, so I finally went through it. 
Most of it was Badger’s old kindergarten papers, and I tossed them because she didn’t care and I sure didn’t need the clutter. 
I did keep the little handprints, though. 
Those matter. 
Those stay.

Badger came out of her hobbit hole, and we took Duffy out to potty.
Thankfully, Heron had already walked Lady.
We’re all a little uneasy about taking her out these days.
We switched on the air conditioning in Heron’s RV since it was already creeping toward 80 degrees inside.

We came back inside, and I sat down at my computer to play a round of Plinko while Badger wandered into the kitchen.
After a bit, she brought me cinnamon toast and iced coffee.
It was a nice little surprise, and I appreciated it.

Cowboy crawled out of bed at 10 a.m., and the morning came to a screeching halt. 
He ate his breakfast and grabbed his phone for a morning of loud Facebook videos. 
Badger and I both headed to our rooms. 
We love our Cowboy, but we don’t love his videos.

Eventually, the chickens got fed, naps were taken, and time crept toward Cowboy heading to work. 

This is turning into a major novel, but things slowed down once Cowboy left for work. 
I took a long nap, and I’m pretty sure Badger did too. 
The afternoon and evening dragged on. 
We had supper, watched some TV, and Heron came home from work. 
Later, just before 9 p.m., we walked with Heron and Lady. 
It was still miserable outside, but the fresh air felt good.

I came home, and Heron went to take a shower while Badger disappeared into her room. 

Now I’m here, typing the great American novel and nursing a sore heel. 

Can you believe it’s already Wednesday? 
And July is over? 
Holy cow, slow time down. 

I don’t know if we’ll get Raven’s kids this weekend.
They start school Thursday.
Isn’t that absolutely ridiculous to start so early?

We have to go to Morristown Saturday.
After all that pain, Badger is getting her nose piercing taken out.
No more nose ring.

If it’s not miserable outside, I want to stop at the Goodwill, and then we’ll cross the road for Dutch Bros.
It kind of grows on you, even though it still isn’t really coffee.
Of course Cowboy refuses to run the AC in the car, so if it’s just too hot, we’ll come straight home.