Journal: July 27. Doors, windows, and tree clearing

The crooked, yet tightly sealed dining room door.

Lots of activity on a hot day. Sam and Carrie working on Cambridge apartment rental--lots of scanning and mailing, Sam continuing with his Chekhov book chores, Logan arriving at 7:30 to chop down trees before the day got insufferably hot, and George working for hours on getting old doors to open and close properly.

Many of these doors hadn't functioned for years. When I arrived most doors were sealed with tape and plastic--I guess that was weather-proofing--but given all the smells and mustiness, the house cried out for ventilation. Once doors and windows were opened, holes in the screens (if there were screens) and big gaps between doors and sills made the house all too appealing for mosquitoes and other flying creatures. At first, because it wasn't all that hot, this wasn't a problem, but in recent days, mosquitoes have been happily swarming--too many bites, too much itching, not a pretty picture.

And not so easy to rectify. If you look carefully at the picture of the repaired door--you will have a hard time finding one right angle. Much trial and error before the door finally sealed properly. Each day the interior bug population declines--and the human residents become happier and happier.

We had been thinking of going to a minor league baseball game tonight, but instead saw Inception at the Historic Newton Theater. I had thought I might be completely mystified--but was happy enough with the visuals and cross-references, and thought I was even understanding the plot--but once we got to Antarctica--and started zipping through layers of dreams--I was on shakier ground. In the end, I wasn't sure if it wasn't just all a clever puzzle and our task was to discover the twists and turns of Christopher Nolan's brain. But it cannot be denied that a fine time was had by all--and it was a pleasure to go into another world altogether.