The Lovin' Spoonful was on the radio as two little boys whipped past me on their bikes, shirtless. The man on the radio came on and said that these are the dog days of summer. Last week as we were all bathing in our own sweat that would have been a correct assessment but on this cool and very breezy July morning that couldn't have been farther from the truth. In fact, it didn't feel like summer at all, which was all kinds of wonderful. Sometimes you need a respite from the cloying heat, the humidity and the constant feeling of dampness.
So we went to the park and waited in line for the swings. We smiled and giggled and oohed and ahed. We walked and listened to snippets of conversations from old ladies occupying a shaded bench. We watched a father and son walk down to the bank of the creek to fish, the boy excitedly skipping all the way down with his tiny little blue fishing rod. We watched people come and go, some came to run, some came to talk and some like us, just came to enjoy the cool air.
Then we drove to the farm stand which it turned out was closed until after noon (disappointing). So I drove around while Birdie nodded off to sleep. I turned the radio down low and made my way through cornfield after cornfield. I wanted to really take them in because from the looks of it the corn was ready to be picked and I knew it would just be a matter of time before it would all be mowed down and gone until next spring. I bid good day to some cows that had the look of absolute ecstasy, I'm sure they too were enjoying this refreshing day. I think cows are just so dreamy, especially black and white ones.
Around one o'clock I turned around and headed back to the farm stand. Birdie was up and together we bagged some baby apples, tomatoes for a salad and an onion or two. My shoes crunched the gravel all the way back to the car and Birdie curiously tugged on the grocery bag. She babbled over the radio the whole way home and I smiled and felt grateful for this wonderful day. I was grateful for being this girl's mama, I was grateful for this gorgeous place we live in, I was grateful for the kind people around me, for my brave husband, for the life we dream up together and then go chase after.
Later that evening my father said to us on the phone "I think the most valuable things in life are to set noble goals for yourself, to be flexible, to be courageous and daring, to never give up and everything will turn out better than you even imagined."
