Dinner Prep

"Can I run this over to Logan and Thad's?" Joe says. He holds up a cucumber, pickle sized, thrust up like the bounty it is, snapped fresh from HIS vine.

"Um, sure," I say. The evening sprint to get dinner on the table in full roar, I stop to look at his plaid shorts and shark shirt. Deciding he's passed the visual exam, "Myra, you and Jane can go with him," I say.

"OK," they cheer and peel off formation. Everyone playing a role, I calculate their absence, nod, and they're off.

"Why can't I go?" Lucy says. There, slack at the stove, shoulders sagged, she peers across the room to me.

"I'm going to have you help me set the table," I say.

"What's your reasoning?" she says.

"Well," I say, "I think Myra and Joe can be kind of hard to manage, and I think Jane is a little better at that, because she is older, so I sent her."

"Oh," she says, and with almost no pause, "I guess she is more mature than me." For the sheer guilelessness of her words, I slow in the thrum-drum pulse of dinner prep and look at her, something so still and peaceful.

"You are very mature for your age," I say. I pat her head. She reaches for the dishes. We weave a dinner spread in tandem. Something akin to a gong of love reverberates between us.

Gratitude:

5525. Joe jumps and dances circles around Betsy. She giggle her applause.

5526. "You read to go?" Craig asks. "Yeah," Joe says. Dressed in just a button-up shirt, he pauses, shakes his head. "Oh! I forgot my shoes," he says.

5527. The children begin school chores and a sense of order ensues.

5528. I begin rolling all the yarn in the house into balls. Even the old cheap stuff looks jubilant rolled into a perfect ball.

5529. My mom and Craig's dad celebrate birthdays.

5530. Jack's praying mantis dies. The Lord provides another, beloved creature that it is to Jack.

5531. I make friends with a new neighbor on my morning run.

5532. I buy five boxes of books for $20 at a garage sale, two sets of encyclopedias included. Encyclopedias, we've already used both sets. Bliss.

5533. Craig takes me on a date. Thrift shopping and a movie, it's the good ol' days.

5534. We settle into the anticipation of a new school year. Books begin arriving at the house. The children organize their supplies. The privilege of learning buoys us all.

5535. We thank the Lord for another year together.