1985-06 (June)

June 21st, 1985

For diversion, read Pickett's Charge section of my war narrative. I must say, I enjoyed it. Finished Part four of La Terre; only five left. And I wound it up by the end of the day. Walked 2 1/2; played XXXXXXXXX Quartet 15. TV movie; Robert Redfod in "The Natural," a dissapointment after hopeful expectations.

June 22nd, 1985

Slept past 7:30 after watching late-night hostage "News," which of course wasn't really news at all, weekly interviews with victim-captives and so called experts on such matters, men who failed before in similar circumstances. Read Henry James late-life novella, "Julia Bride." Midafternoon, rode to morningside and saw Tunkie, who seems comparatively in much better spirits. Read the New grove articles on Stravinsky. Hard rain at 3:45barred walk. Quit by 4:30 - too late for start. For dinner, cooked filets with XXXX and XXXX room sauce; Gwyn made garlic-butter potatoes, and we had a bottle of red Cours Pavillon. Au Gu.

June 23rd, 1985 Slept till nearly 8, lazy Sunday; cereal breakfast. Read North Anna/ Cold Harbor sequences in Civil War III; also part of the epilogue to Black Lamb and Gray Falcon, which Gwyn is re-reading with great pleasure. Walked early at 1:45 in plenty of time to get back home for a TV showing of the 1927 silent film, "Napoleon," at 3 o'clock. It ran for four hours: many interesting techniques, including split screen, wide screen, varied colors and exposures. Sound track addedby Coppolla, was mainly imitating Mozart but served its purpose well. Predinner music called ruckus-over three instances of Gwyn's destructive impulse. I can't blame her for it- only myself for putting up with it.

June 24th, 1985 Warm weather nack with us, though nothing like as hot as a couple of weeks ago in fact only about normal for late June. Read Cervantes' "Rineconte and Cortadillo," the first of his three Exemplary Novels. Rather pointless except as a demonstration of thieves argot, most of it untranslatable. Huger arrived looking fine when I met his NY flight at 9- two hours late because of thunder storms around New York and Boston. He drove us home amazed at how little things have changed in the nearly two years he's been gone. When I showed him the Paris Map on the wall of his sitting room, he said it made him sad because it made him think of his girl Gabrielle. Then he went out on the town taking Gwyn's Mercedes; my Lancia will be his departure car) didn't come home till 2:30 a. m.

June 25, 1985

Fletcher here, edging front sidewalk and chipping dead limbs from the backyard apple tree. Huger slept late- true to all of his old habbits: out all night, in all day. Left in my car around 2:30, got back in time for dinner - a long bone sirloin I cooked on the outdoor grill, along with corn-on- the cob cooked indoors by Gwyn.. Hard thunderstorm between 6:30 - 8 nearly kept me from the grill. Cooked things all through. Walked teo miles but rode the last two blocks with Chris Cavallo, who will cut down and cart off the dead shrub out front and the dead wild cherry in the back yard; a task now three years overdue. He'll call when he gets around to it.