7/18-22/22 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I arrived at 11:40 and was happy to see that it was windy. That blew most of the mosquitoes away. I brought all my gear up to the cabin in one trip and then hoisted the flag. It was nice that there were no mosquitoes at the flagpole because of the wind.

After lunch and a short nap, I practiced the piano and then called Earl. I still had tachycardia and was not feeling up to par.

On Tuesday morning Robert called to check on me. Afterwards, I practiced the piano and then listened to the radio, feeling no motivation to do any work. After lunch and a nap, I did some work on my solar tracking mechanism, but my heart wasn't in it, so to speak. Tachycardia was persistent day and night. I folded up the bedding from the cot and put it away and did a little more work on my tracking mechanism.

On Wednesday morning after practicing the piano, out of curiosity I went down to the crawl space and tried starting the saw using the information I had learned from Robert. I was pleased that it kicked over on the first pull and then after taking the choke off, it started up. Since I was in the crawl space, I didn't run it but was happy that it appeared to start.

I called Robert and left a message to the effect that he wouldn't have to make a trip over to show me how to start the saw since it evidently was going to start. My energy was still low along with my enthusiasm and motivation, presumably because of the tachycardia.

After lunch and a nap, Robert called, and I told him what had happened with the saw and told him that I was not coming up to Camp Serendipity at all next week. Since I had no energy or enthusiasm, I finished reading Orwell's 1984 for the second time.

I decided not to bring the flag in for the night so that I wouldn't have to go out in the mosquitoes. To comply with flag etiquette, I turned the flood light on that would illuminate the flag overnight. I was happy that I had eliminated all mosquitoes inside the building.

On Thursday morning I was still lethargic. Robert called and after we had talked, Dave called. We had a delightful conversation recapping some of our fun the previous week. I had a late breakfast. Then I practiced the piano, listened to the radio, and took a short nap.

The power went out at noon, so I ate a small cold lunch. The power came back on at 1:00 o'clock and I took my normal nap. I got up at 1:30 and actually felt energized. I decided to take the saw outside and cut down some big brush. I felt pretty good doing it and I whacked most all the bushes down between the back porch and the privy. I came in 2:45 feeling pretty good about the work I had done. No sooner had I gotten into the cabin when the power went out again at 2:50.

I took a shower and shaved in the dark, and then I rested on the bed. I was worried about the phone not working and having the same problem communicating with Ellen that I had a couple weeks ago. So, I decided to walk to the neighbor's and to the school bus turnaround to see if I couldn't get a phone connection or borrow a phone. Just as I was ready to leave, the power came back on at 4:45.

I immediately changed my plans about leaving and decided to cook and eat my dinner now that the power was on and while I had a chance. I had my dinner at 5:00 o'clock and then called Ellen. Since my phone service was still uncertain, I decided to drive to the school bus turnaround and restart my phone to make sure I had a network connection. When I got to the school bus turnaround, I was surprised to discover that my phone service was working fine. I left a message for Ellen and then drove back to the cabin.

On my way out I had noticed that the workmen installing the fiber optic conduit in the street had damaged my house number sign, and nearly torn it off the post. On my way back I stopped at the post, got my tools out, and fixed the house number sign. I worked in a swarm of mosquitoes that covered my hands and face with bites. But I got the sign fixed and proceeded on to park and go back inside the cabin. I was careful not to bring any mosquitoes in with me and I don't think I did.

On Friday morning, the power went out again at 5:00 o'clock AM and stayed off until 7:00 o'clock. I stayed in bed that whole time feeling lethargic again. When I got up, I fixed my breakfast, practiced the piano, and folded up the cot and put it away. Then I put away some tools and got ready to leave for home. I stopped the clock since I would not be there to wind it, and I made other preparations for my delayed return. Ellen has the week off next week, I still have my tachycardia, and I have an appointment with my cardiologist at the end of the week, so we decided it would be best that I skip coming up to the mountains next week. Hopefully everything will get fixed, and things will return to normal when I come back.