Thursday 5/4

The sun came out! There's a unique green that oozes out of the trees and grass after days of rain in New England. When I woke up this morning, it was right outside my window. Michael and I smiled at one another - a smile that may very well have been similar to the smiles that Noah and his poor accomodating wife shared once the 40 days and 40 nights of dripping torture ended. That woman deserved to go straight to heaven without having to die before she was allowed in!
I took a picture of our fire place in the backyard. We've already had the first fire of the year. Usually we invite friends over and Michael starts popping corks or assembling the BEST margaritas I've ever tasted. This is a great time of the year to have a fire. The mosquitoes haven't shown up yet, and the nights are chilly enough that you need to wear sweatshirts and maybe pull out some blankets. I radomly place small tea lights in my flower garden and hang lanterns with softly glowing candles in a few of the trees. It looks pretty and helps to guide you through the dark backyard as well. I'll try to take a night time photo of it some time soon, I'm curious to see how it would come out. Last weekend Shelly asked if it would be OK to borrow the candle idea! Our friend Patti built her own fire pit after coming over here for so many campfires. Having campfires has always been a favorite ritual for me. Just the smell of wood smoke can bring back memories of falling stars in the late night skies of August. As a child I loved to sit quietly and listen to the adults talk - we all stared as if hynotized by the flames. Sometimes they would get caught up in their own stories and forget that it was hours past our bedtime. Both of my brothers and my sister have campfires in their backyards also. Mom still has one, but I don't think it gets used as much as it used to. Our kids have grown up with this ritual. I hope that they will come to love it as much as I do.