He made two piles of clothes even steven and let me pick which one I wanted.

In the morning I am awakened by what I assume are ambulances but which are allegedly cicadas. My left ankle is swollen with two mosquito bites. I suffer from “skeeter syndrome,” which means mosquito bites on my skin distend to tumoral degrees and erupt in tiny welts.

Secondly, there is an enthusiasm for crowded confrontational scenes — what amounts to an intellectual agoraphilia, one which will climax in Areopagitica.

In narrow marina berths, tightly closed blinds are a defense against everything from bash-and-grab thieves to peeping toms.