priorities

My list of stuff to do reads Laundry, Dishwasher (twice), packing lists for kids, clear the counters.

What I am actually doing is stockpiling postcard ideas for the long weekend.

We're going to South Carolina for my aunt's 80th b'day. It is a quick trip - fly down Friday, fly back Tuesday. In between I expect we will eat a lot of lovely food, visit the Pine Cottage, the only built piece of my grandfather's architectural output, and spend a good deal of time explaining how these people are related to the girls.

I rode my bike this morning. It was cold. I had goosebumps for most of the trip, and my ear started to ache from cold. The acorns are falling form the trees, the leaves on the tips of the branches are starting to turn. I think every cold morning is a little elegy for summer. We try so hard to hold onto the summer with cutoff shorts and bare feet but we still needed sweatshirts this morning to ward off the chill. I feel lucky to have missed most of the really scorching weather, it makes me wilt. But I am not quite done with summer yet. I bet once I have had a little South Carolina weather, I'll just be feeling profoundly grateful to be living here.

Laundry? Soon.