My Two Favorite Words on a Summer Evening

Beckon and linger--the two words which best describe these long, laid-back summer evenings.

After the heat of the day has receded and the sun's brilliance has diminished to a gorgeous temperance, the outdoors beckons to me to leave the supper dishes and leave the laundry piles and leave the homeschool planning and leave whatever else needs done inside and come out into the open air.  It's nearly impossible for me to say no.

Some evenings I am practical and motivated, donning a pair of old dirty garden gloves and tackling weeds in the flowerbed while Benjamin sits in his stroller and watches, occasionally being given strolls up and down the driveway by one of his siblings or a neighbor.

Other evenings are for swinging, with Benjamin in his swing and me on the one beside him, or perhaps with Jeff, Benjamin, and I together on the bench swing.

Many evenings are for watching the children play together as the evening light slants across the yard, their imaginations creating roads and houses and gas stations and adventures.

Evenings are good for looking at the sky.  We've had so many pretty sunsets this year; but even before the sunset, there is often beauty to be found when we look skyward.

And of course, one of my very favorite things to do in the evenings is take faithful Jed for a walk, up and over the hill of our neighbor's lane.

As the light fades and night creeps closer, I often hear a voice inside my head say, "You should take the baby in for a bath now," or "What about those dishes waiting for you?"  But the voices of the birds winging overhead on their way to a nearby forest, and the voices of the leaves rustling in the wind, and the voices of the freshness of the evening air, and the other voices outside urge me to linger.

Usually I give in to them.

Soon enough, the evenings will be chilly enough that we won't want to be outside so much.  Soon enough, we'll spend them in the cozy living room, warmed by our trusty woodstove.  There is joy in that.

But for now, oh the joy I receive from lingering outside as evening turns to night!