While I wait for the final ebook proof of “Playing in the Apocalypse,” I’m editing the latest draft of my novel, “A Shack on the Outskirts of Heaven.” That book is turning out to be almost as full of song lyrics as “Apocalypse” was before I took them out, having recently learned that Fair Use does not apply to songs. All my writing is peppered with song lyrics, requiring a careful going over. It’s amazing the way songs have worked themselves into my brain and become part of me, but they’re a part I can’t use because they were part of someone else first.

After what felt like weeks of cold rain, we had three warm days in the 70s and 80s. Irises, roses, and rhododendrons noticed. Petals unfurled. Showers are back today, and it smells wonderful outside.