Starlight

The last few evenings have been beautiful - warm with a slight breeze, the sun setting early enough to allow dusk to settle gently over us as we finish our dinner. We've taken advantage of the weather by eating outside, lanterns lit, grilled veggies on our plates. After dinner, we lay on a blanket in the grass, stretched out next to each other. Joseph lays with his head on my stomach, his feet tucked under Chad. I hold Chad's hand across the space and point out airplanes, constellations and shooting stars while he rubs his thumb along my palm. We count stars and sing "Twinkle, twinkle". Maggie walks the perimeter, keeping us safe until she finally tires of her patrol and plops down next to us.

We stay outside until stars fill the sky and the breeze turns from pleasant to cool. We stay outside until thoughts of warm bubble baths and cozy beds make Joseph call out "Night. Night." to the twinkling lights above. We gather our blanket, turn out the lanterns and come inside - connected after a day apart.