my face is my windshield (Wednesday, continued)

Eventually, the sun recedes to the very edges of the farmette...





...Ed goes off for his Wednesday ride, and I take Rosie downtown for a burger dinner on the square with my daughter.





That is always a splendid way to spend an evening. But what I hadn’t expected was the further treat that followed the meal – a ride after the sun had just set. By one lake, then another – ahhh, magnificent.







And such colors! A sky doused with the hottest chili pepper sauce!







As I steer Rosie away from the city, I notice the evening bugs – the ones you typically catch on your car windshield. They don’t go away just because you’re on a moped. My face catches one, then another and I think – my, you have piercing body parts! Because truly, evening bugs are sharp!

Still, what a night! Rosie and I take the back way, so that we can creep up on the farmhouse quietly, away from the main road. And we are rewarded by a beautiful vignette – with a gentle mist rising from the warmed fields, overseen by the smallest sliver of a moon.





Rosie and I slow down and I think -- this is a good way to exit August.

when the day is through

We’re sitting on the porch, our feet up and resting on the ledge. The canvas chairs permit us to sway a little. An iPod is crooning some mild jazz, but really, the noise of the crickets is far louder. It’s nearing five and the shadows have crawled over much of the flower patch and driveway. I say to Ed – it feels like early fall. He answers – it feels like summer. He and I look out differently. I notice the movement of sunlight. He notices the warmth in the air. I am looking for an interesting photo. He is thinking of his bike ride in an hour or so.

It completely makes sense to me that people who have been around some should love a porch so much. Say you’re a parent: you’ve pushed your kids plenty. You’re not worrying about feeding them oatmeal anymore. You have more free time. Work is done for the day, now what? Read some spirited debate on the Internet? Forget it! Controversy is for the babes out there. You’ve heard the debates, the arguments, the nonsense. You know that no one is ever fully right. So, feet up, eyes out toward the sky. Crickets and a receding streak of sunlight are so much more interesting. We listen and watch and occasionally comment on what we see before us and really, we could go on like this for hours.