Now Playing: Nick Drake, "Five Leaves Left," "The Thoughts of Mary Jane."

It's gotten so warm here this week that birds are panting as they fly. Yesterday evening, while Scott and I were making tea, Laura befriended a cat who's been hanging around our house. She's a young calico cat, mostly grey, and she was lying on our back porch, panting. We sat outside after tea, and the cat stuck around, purring so hard that her whiskers vibrated. The cat didn't even mind when Laura started strumming her guitar. Lisa and Lydia, Lisa's sister who's living with us this summer, were both totally disgusted by how much we were enjoying the cat and how much the cat was enjoying us.