for an afternoon walk. it was only a short hike, the one the three of us took today. but it was a hike through a field thick with fading wildflowers---a field easy to be aimless in, so dense and feral it was easy to forget we were only ever yards from our car. we got a little lost---pleasantly so---among all the asters and thistle and goldenrod, and sat in the deep shade of a giant maple whose leaves were just beginning to turn, and then emerged, blinking, into the sunlight. the perfect outing for the last weekend of summer.

*

for roo, who has been tending toward a slight mania during his bedtime feeding. he likes to pull off the breast now to whisper and grin at me for minutes at a time (dadadadada, he calls softly, reaching up to claw affectionately at my face) before falling abruptly to sleep in my arms.

*

for having married someone who agrees that a perfect evening involves hard cider, chocolate chiffon tart, and the miss america pageant. and perfect it was.