of a sun-filled evening

Sunday night we took off for upstate New York to visit my husband’s family. His brother’s family was visiting from Hong Kong this week. Later this summer we’ll go up again when his sister’s family comes in from the West Coast. When family travels to the East Coast, we go. Period.

It rained the whole time we were there. I didn’t notice I was missing the sun (we were too busy talking, eating, and visiting the Corning Museum of Glass), but Tuesday evening when the sun finally made an appearance, I had to get out in it.

I threw on my sneakers, and some of the kids and I struck out through the field behind Grandpa and Grandma’s house. The kids climbed all over a tractor that was parked in the field, and then they set about picking wild flowers.

Half the sky was dark with clouds, and the other half was bright blue with fluffy white clouds.

The sunlight was beautiful.

The kids meandered from clump to clump, and I took pictures till my vision blurred.

This morning I was awakened by the sun beaming in through the window. I took another walk (this time, a long one, all by myself this time) before breakfast—strong coffee, fried ham, and a delicious baked French toast with maple syrup. It seemed a shame to spend this gloriously sunny day stuck in a car, but oh well. We’re home now.

This same time, years previous: small pasta with spinach and bacon, three reds fruit crumble, sour cream ice cream, radishes for breakfast, hypothesizing (my theories on learning to read), the best chocolate ice cream ever, strawberry daiquiri base