Part II: Day 68: Independence, and a Day

So grateful today to have my sweet girl with me, a quasi-breeze in the hot weather, my husband with us in the grass, the triad of just three beings chillin', or trying to under a fierce July sun.  The discovery that an ice cube down the spine of this hot black dog is the best thing in the world I can give her now, and that there's something I can still give her that makes her feel amazing.  Another day and another chance to critter-watch with her: ground hogs, the river's duckling flottilla, robins, the great blue heron with his girlfriend, monarch butterflies.  I craved this quiet time with just us and it is here, what I longed for with all of me.  This being-ness.  The sound of the river.  That sweet moment in late morning at the top of the hill when I put my arm around Zoe and she leaned into me.  The fact that she still peers at the world and at us with that keen intelligence and curiosity.  Peace on a holiday I've always hated because of its insistent noise and triumphal attitude.  Love beating in our hearts instead of a marching band, the thrum of it never failing even as things slow way down.  Another day.  Another day.

Another day.