on the porch

Some time at night, my little one comes home. Funny how quickly I revert back to listening for her, waking at her presence in the house, falling asleep quickly, with relief, once I know she’s moving around, quietly, but I hear her anyway. When they’re home, I listen for my girls.

On Sunday morning, there are five of us on the porch. She is there, of course, as is her boyfriend, splendidly driving up from Chicago, making her ride back now that much nicer. Ed is there, Isis is there. Occasion for a bigger, better breakfast than our standard, but she wont hear of it. Just do as you always would do.

So we eat oatmeal, with fruits and honeys and we linger because – did I tell you? The storm did knock the heat wave out of the Midwest. For the first time this entire summer it;s so pleasant outside that I open windows at the farmhouse and keep them open all day long. No need for air conditioning. The breeze can move through, from one end to the other and then back again.

My girl and her guy take off. There’s always a moment of letdown when she gets going, even as her home is relatively close. Chicago. Really not far at all. Still, we had been intensely working together on this shower project and that partnership has ended and she is off and all I can send with her is a bag with a few leftover sandwiches and tomatoes from the garden.

I put away dishes, store the punch bowl (until when?) and we return the chairs to Paul’s. But we don’t linger. The air is delicately warm, breezy still – not warmer than maybe 75 and we go to the tennis court to whip the balls around some. It’s a good transition to life after the big event.

In the evening my friends from St Paul arrive for a visit and we are joined for dinner by our close close friends who live in Albuquerque and it is an unusual evening, because even though we know each other so well, the six of us (meaning with the men in our lives) have never shared a meal together. It just sort of happened that way. 

 

And so here we are, out on the porch, because for once, the evening is beautiful out there and we eat one of this summer’s favorites for me – salmon with blueberries...


 


... and the evening light, not tame, but not hot at all, is coming at us now through the screen and I think – yes, this is why I like summer.











For the lovely sunlight that sometimes hits things just right.