My morning walk..

Up past bedtime

Last night the girls and I sat out on our porch long past the time they are normally in bed. We were watching the wind bending the trees that line our street during the strong rainstorms that rolled through.
It was the highlight of their day - maybe their summer. Staying up LATE just to be outside watching the rain.
But then, tonight, we topped it. Donning the cozy hooded sweatshirts Grandma gave them over lunch today, we waited till dark and set out on a walk in the rain. Around the corner, past quiet houses, up the hill to the park. I didn't tell them, but I was secretly hoping the fountain would still be on, thinking how great it would look in the dark, with rain falling.
We were in luck. When we got to the park, the night turned into magoc as we ran wild all around the curving flower-lined paths, finally resting at the edge of the fountain. After a moment of watching the graceful curve of the water cascading down and undulating in the wind, lights suddenly appeared, turning the whole thing an eerie shade of green.
We screamed with delight and clapped our hands at the show, and it seemed crazy that we arrived just in time to see the lights come on. After a moment, they burst into shades of orange, then blue and gold. We decided that each time they changed we'd run around the fountain to celebrate. And for the next who-knows-how-long we *played*, really played the way adults forget how..in the rain, running, watching, laughing, making wishes..
I held Ginger in the air as high as I could so she could fling her arms out wide and yell at the sky,"Hello World! Here I am!!! Gimme watcha got!"(she's seen me do this, though with noone to lift me in the air, which I think would make it feel much more exhiliarating)
We all felt that the night was a special party just for us, and saw lots of other beautiful things that won't be described here.

Earlier tonight after they were sleeping, I sat quietly on my living room floor looking through some papers. The room was peaceful, the fan's whirring the only sound, lights dim, the orange cat walking by...
The CAT WALKING BY??
He turned casually to look at me as he brushed past, sauntered into the kitchen, and sat on his haunches as if to say, "Well. What have we here?"
I was dumbfounded. He seemed completely at ease.
I do not have a cat.
It took me a long time to convince him to go back outside - in the end he was gently carried out and deposited on the front porch, which left him visibly annoyed.