On this day, the day when the spirits of the dead return home from their summer holiday, about a hundred dragonflies hover over this valley, riding the currents created by the heat of afternoon, swirling as if tracing the smoke trails of incense burning in the houses below.
The cooling of the day brings with it the towering airships of clouds. Much later, after the dark has come, the moon will rise full, backlighting the clouds into the shape of a fan, reminding us of the cooler days to come, cooing 'transience' in our ears as they brush past, ruffling our hair.
On the turntable: Johnny Winter, "Second Winter"
On the nighttable: Diana Preston, "The Boxer Rebellion"
On the reel table: "Jimi Hendrix, Live at Woodstock"
