Operation Illumination

 

I forgot to mention that, as Jilly Moose, Travalon, and I were returning from the fair, we were driving toward the west and could see rain like a waterfall in the sky some distance away. I said if it's to the west, it will be coming this way, and it must really have been raining hard to look like a waterfall in the sky. We dropped Jilly Moose off at her car, and not long after that the rain hit. It rained really, really hard, but just for a few minutes. It was scary to drive through it - at one point Travalon couldn't even see through the windshield. (Neither could I, for that matter.) But it was a very brief rain; the one later in the evening, while we were at the health club, was a lot more help toward ending this drought.

I also forgot to mention the hilarious things Rich said during brunch yesterday. At one point he wondered when one of the regulars would show up, which surprised all of us, especially the guy in question who was sitting immediately to Rich's right as he said it. Then someone asked Rich about the Oppenheimer movie, and he said he would "try to describe it fairly fairly." I said, "Did you just say 'fairly fairly'?" and two people around me confirmed that they heard it too. It's funny - I've never thought about the fact that "fairly" can mean "somewhat" and also "justly," so Rich was going to describe the movie somewhat justly, and there's no reason the one fairly can't modify the other, but it sure sounds weird.

Today was a quiet day, but the smoke is back so I walked outside with a mask on, and my neighbor didn't want to play pickleball after work. Fortunately, when Travalon came home, he was up for swimming at the health club in the sport pool, where you can almost feel like you're outside because of all the windows. Speaking of which, all these little sparrows were looking in the window at us with great interest for a few minutes, then they lost interest and all flew away. Maybe it's us, because the other day some other people were playing tennis on the court in our complex, and the cranes weren't watching at all but just grazing in the grass like nothing was happening, yet when Travalon and I play, they can't get enough of it. Maybe we are just really fascinating to birds.

I have been working on this project now for about a week, and I felt it needed a name. I asked Travalon what I should call it but then came up with Operation Illumination before he could think of anything. After all, Niko and his ancestor helped inspire the practical response to my mystical experience, and his ancestor is labeled "Illuminor." If I succeed, maybe I will be enlightened! Travalon wondered how I would know that Operation Illumination was a success, and I have no idea currently, but maybe it will be revealed, I will keep my readers posted...

Famous Hat