Despite the heat, I delight this day and evening in rumbling (and at times crashing) thunder. This image, for the record, is our backyard.

Tonight's fare? Cat Soup and my variation on the supposed 'first printed' martini cocktail recipe from Harry Johnson's Bartender's Manual (1882):

One ice cube in a large bar glass;
3 dashes of Fee Brothers bitters;
1 dash of curaçao;
1 healthy dash of absinthe;
1 1/2oz. gin;
1/2 oz. dry vermouth.

Stir for around 30 seconds, nevermind the olive, nevermind the cherry, nevermind the lemon peel.

And now I am sitting and waiting for a friend, to the sound of the thunder, amidst scores of post-it love notes from the lady of mine. Life seems marvelous.