Sometimes I believe in omens and portents, sometimes not. I do today. Checking the weather sites for the Open House today, I was struck by this: in the past month, only one day was expected to be sunny, dry and free from any chance of rain. In the next months’ forecast, only one day is sunny, dry, comfortable and free of rain. In this Biblical summer of rain and heat and humidity, only July 21 – today – is a perfect summer day, the day of our Open House. If we had scheduled it for last Sunday, we would surely have had to cancel – you can’t herd sheep in that kind of heat, or even ask the donkeys to be sociable, and nobody would have been in any kind of mood to browse some imaginative art or listen to talks or readings.

I do take this as an omen, the Open House has a good feeling about it, we are up and early and rushing about getting ice and carrots, excited and ready for share our bounty with those who wish to see it. Red is ready, Simon and the donkeys are ready, Maria is surely ready. Me too.