This is nothing new; everybody knows that where you look matters. There are all those studies about hospital patients doing better when they can look out a nice window, students being kinder after staring at a tree. But let me also say this- that it's not a bad chore to thin the apples or the peaches, but I'd hate to thin strawberries. There's something to be said for standing tall, for looking up and out.

I thin apples like this: keep only the best of the cluster- bonus points if it's not scarred with a little moon of plum curcurlio. I thin peaches like this: say I'm leaving one plum every six inches, but often leaving more. The spongy moth caterpillars are everywhere in my neighborhood, and when I'm out thinning fruit, passersby presume I'm on a caterpillar hunt. I see plenty, and kill all I can. ​

Another thing you should know: it's cotton season. Not everyone likes summer. I didn't once, but now I do. I see this overhead on a road, and I think of what Whitman said about "divine things well envelop'd." First the the cotton in the trees, then more.

The grape vine keeps growing, looking for something to hold onto. A cardinal made a nest inside, right against the kitchen window. When I do dishes, she scowls at me, and I'm just happy to be there.