Autumn

This morning I lit the stove to drive away the chill. It isn’t cold enough yet to keep the stove going all night, but the mornings have needed heat. This is the earliest we’ve started burning since moving out here, usually it’s closer to the end of the month, or even into October when we start wanting morning fires.

I did little else though. Petka refused to nap, and she was so delightfully happy I couldn't work up the need to try to force a nap. Now it's too late to nap, and she's running around in pink and white. Falling, laughing, and getting up again. Carrying books from the shelf to her father and back again.

I brought in most of the laundry my husband hung to dry while I was away, walked for the mail and watched Luba chase grasshoppers around the yard. We picked tomatoes and poppies and smiled at the sunflowers. I love being home.