“Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and speech only to conceal their thoughts.” — Voltaire

Somehow summer heat came to Austin after waiting a long time to realize the cold air had left us. It was the same time we began having some work done on our house. This gave Mello an opportunity to display her barking ability with workers. The woman of the house spearheaded this idea.

Fortunately, the sun took charge on the first day. That was nice. Wednesday there was a good chance of rain that could have interrupted some roofing material but so far that hadn’t happened.

In other news, I dug out the dandelions that were intending to occupy the yard. When I was a young lad living out along the Turtle Creek I picked dandelions for my mother in the spring, and now I walk around digging them up with a little glee in my eyes.

Lydia, our daughter, arrived and brought some morel mushrooms. Lydia also tells me Wednesday was Statehood Day; Minnesota has been a state for 153 years.

Today the state Senate is deciding whether or not to put a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the 2012 ballot. How far have we really come as a state if on the 153rd anniversary, the Minnesota Senate Republicans are prioritizing a social agenda of inequality over the state’s fundamental needs to protect, educate, and support its citizens?

Lydia prepared the morels. Mello wanted one, but I ate them. It was a nice snack on a grey day. Perhaps I will go looking for morels for myself this weekend.

The other night I dug out my aging “Artist Quality Sketchbook” that I’ve used to collect mostly words of others and includes a few of my own. In it, John Updike said “America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.” And Mark Twain who came before Updike said: “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Mello is still horse from barking so much, and the barking goes on.