When I look at my notes from last year, at this time I was picking plenty of tasty edible mushrooms in my local forests. This summer, though, I’ve only found a handful of chanterelles, and the lack of any substantial rain over the past weeks has everything to do with it. A little thunder shower isn’t going to turn things around either. We need a couple wet wet days to get this forager back in the forests.

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I don’t know what Memphis got into earlier this week, but she came down with a nasty digestive problem. There are lots of fantastic things about Newfoundland dogs, but I can tell you that a dog that weighs in at well over 100 pounds with a system that’s not working right is not pretty. The other night, she woke us up several times in the night to go out to the back yard. We weren’t happy; she wasn’t happy either. However, I’m pleased to report our Memphilena is on the mend.

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I want to find some time to get out to see the Ab Ex show at the Art Gallery of Ontario this weekend. I have a lot of affection for the Ab Ex painters still.  Sixty years later, some of the work of that generation of painters holds up much better than others, and I’m looking forward to a chance to see a good collection of that material gathered together in one place. I’m told there are a number of Gustons in the show. Guston has been a very important painter for me. In particular, Mr. Guston’s peculiar and somewhat disturbing late works still transfix me.