Hope for Rain

Hope for Rain, originally uploaded by gurdonark.

Today my afternoon proved particularly productive, after a lunch of shrimp and plaintains at the little African Cuisine Cafe down the road from my office.

The United States Open chess tournament is in Dallas this week, but I by-passed this once in a lifetime chance to play in a top tournament locally. My first weekend was committed, and I could not get my mind around playing every night for 9 nights in a row. I hope Saturday to play in the one-afternoon blitz chess tournament, but we'll see if it works out that I can. My postal chess has been abysmal lately (though my on-line blitz chess not so bad), so we'd see what we see about well I do in any event anyway.

Our weather has been so parched, but tonight the clouds promise rain--but will they break that promise?

I love the sound of mockingbird song, and the way that swallows skim a pond, gathering insects.