The axe was difficult, heavy and unwieldy, too long for me, for when I swung it down it got out of my control and I did not know what part of the wood it would strike. I shortened my grip, and the muscles in my legs and back, already stretched from the garden, protested; but I did not want to put it off, the preparations had to start now, for although soon the time for the fireplace in the evening would end with the summer heat, still the winter would come and it would be necessary to be ready; everyone seemed to warn about it.

And in the evening, body exhausted, I sat thoughtless in front of the fire, my own wood this time (no more from the dwindled pile in the back, it was to be added to, not withdrawn from) mind empty, tired too, and satisfied. Early sleep, in the bedroom with rain coming down outside, the first rain here, striking the baby leaves of the willow, spring leaves and on the roof too, gentle rain but overriding all the other sounds, no stream or frogs or crickets, do they sing when there is rain? And the next morning sunshine again and the garden weeds waiting, and that was the first thing because later it got too warm and the muscles protested but were forced, they felt paralyzed but they could be dragged into action, and more progress was made.

The wallpaper was standing in rolls in the living room. It was pre-pasted; all I had to do, the instructions said, was measure, moisten and put it up. It was delicate, feathery, old-fashioned, and I struggled heavily with it, trying to smooth the wrinkles and failing, using scissors to hack away the parts that overlapped on windows and doors, and in some places the edges of the strips did not meet, tilted off-handedly to one side and there was a barren patch, just a spot of the dull green paint underneath, but by then it had dried, instantly it seemed to dry, and there was nothing to be done about it. At first when it was finished, I was disappointed, but in the darkness of the evening, with the lights turned out and just the fire blazing, it was very lovely. I had a shower, thank God for hot water and things that are not primitive, and when the fire died down, I went to bed and slept, hard, exhausted, deeply.

And again the sun shone in the morning.

What time is sunrise in late spring? Whatever, it was when I rose and started my day. How long had it been since I had seen a sunrise? I could barely remember one, and now it was each day.