"Hello," said the wobbly recorded voice, computer-processed or not, "I represent one of the most respected carpet-cleaning companies in--" it went on but I hung up.

I'm starting to fill in the blanks between when I left for New Orleans and today, taking that invaluable and yet semi-tedious step of transcribing writing from notebook to screen, editing and digesting as I go. I'd prefer simply to post in sequence (you'll see that entries have been added for 22 Apr and 23 Apr), but I don't want to follow protocol to the extent that I stifle my living voice in favor of the recently deceased, I mean written thoughts. What I'm trying to say is that you should check the index of first lines if you want to be sure you aren't missing pockets of new entries. Think of the rotten apple problem in the office machine: no one buys the rotten one up front, so the "fresh" ones in back slowly rot as well. Written, wrought, rote, rot.

"Soft, lovely colors make this variety an easy choice for pansy lovers." (Packet copy taken out of context from Botanical Interests brand Pansy, Antique Shades, seed packet.)