I went to the Farmers Market yesterday while Eileen made homemade mint ice cream. I bought some flowers as well as stuff to eat.

The person at the flower stand cautioned me that even though I was buying some flowering tobacco it could not be used for smoking or consuming. Later I thought that despite my mask she probably thought I looked like a goddam hippie who might consume anything to get high.

I told her that I was nostalgic about tobacco having been raised in East Tennessee around tobacco farms. You can see the flowering tobacco plant better in this picture. It’s pink and the two highest flowers in the arrangement.

In both of this photographs you can see the bread rack waiting to cool fresh bread. It has about five more minutes in the oven then out it comes.

My daughter Elizabeth emailed me and mentioned that she knows I like low key birthdays. She is right. But yesterday was lots of fun. I opened the gifts my brother and his wife mailed me. Books! Excellent! Thank you Mark and Leigh for the lovely two volume Library of America set of Tennessee Williams plays and Rita Dove’s new book of poetry.

Earlier in the week my daughter Sarah and partner Matthew sent me a Mr. Natural collection by R. Crumb.

Eileen and I went out to eat at Mizu Sushi. She was hoping the flowers that she had secretly ordered for me would come before lunch. They did.

Then just as we were pulling out of the drive, the Hari Kunzru novels that she had ordered came in the mail.

With our meals I had warm saki and she had green tea. I had raw fish bibimbap and Eileen had Chicken Teriyaki Bento box. It was all delicious. I paid for the meal with a gift certificate from my former boss.

Then we crossed the street and bought season tickets for the Hope College Great Performance Series. After that we walked down to Readers World to pick up books I had ordered.

We came home and I read books and had a real martini and some wine. I can’t imagine a better 70th.