Friday’s sunshine came late

showed up first covered in grey

rain held tight after school drop off &

since I’d slept in

with a promise I wouldn’t drink coffee until I ran

I pushed Olive in the stroller, running it seemed in circles

up & down hills

so easily she falls asleep this way, still, even at three

at four miles we’d reached the muffin store

where she thought we were going all along

why did it take so long today? she asked at counter,

still sleepy, allthewhile smiling & all in love on Fridays,

just as it always is

when it’s just the two of us.

After naptime, the sun exploded

on the deep blue that always brings me right back to Montana

three girls on swings, on our trampoline & giggling down slides

while I sit with eyes closed,

covered in a blanket, rolled like a burrito on our damp yard

trying to remember sunbathing & a beach

knowing it’s not far off on days like this

where the evening stretches into lipstick, earrings, boots

finally catching up with a good friend, really the best sort of girl

at a table for two

long past closing & drinks empty

a walk home where a raccoon threatens any chance at a quiet evening

our small town loves

surely my scream traveled late past the ferry lanes

up to the sky, constellations amazing

the late night, freezing

all of this before

a morning with friends by a dock

donuts, crisp & coffee, bottomless

then a date with my favorite middle lady

she dressed up, or so she said

velour, cheetah print & new thrift store shades

oh, how much she blooms one on one

solo dates just like this & the one the night before:

a resolution for undivided conversations without distractions

moments like these settle the pieces of thought into memory,

plus, it’s just so great to not have to say, um, what was I saying? after

getting interrupted

& so, the middle lady & I walked in the full sun to the bookstore

we spent nearly two hours picking one book

at one point, she rolled all cheetah tears, almost onto & over those fancy new shades,

Mama, it is so hard!  How could I just pick one book when there are so many to read?

It’s true, it’s hard to know where to begin when you’re just beginning to read,

just beginning to see all that awaits.

She settled on a book about making recycled robots that came with a box of materials

Mama!  You know what? she asked halfway home under the cherry tree just starting to bloom, Until right now, I didn’t even know I loved robots and now I want to make a new one each day!

Saturday night found me freaking out about putting clothes away for three small people who can’t figure out how to use a hanger

really, I was done, was done with this redundant, underappreciated task & let everyone know as I continued to hand tiny tshirts, clip tiny skirts & button tiny cardigan sweaters

I knit before my fingers started hurting like they do &

Needing a little time, I met them at scooter night

walked up in late sun,

arrived to a disco night of babes on scooters

glad my family was happy to see me smiling after I’d kinda lost it

&, just then, Olive learned by example

said she didn’t want scootering to be her job

it is just too hard to always do

& just like that, she was done with her Radio Flyer scooter

even while her sisters whizzed by in smiles & cheers.

We’d set up the tent in the living room

which meant the girls were overly excited about getting tucked in

Luke, asleep in the scores of stuffed animals joining the living room camp out

& by 8:00 the girls were dreaming

so I unzipped,

read, wrote in the quiet, dark until too late

before Sunday’s six mile run

robot making, block building

& a chocolate eating sort of day.

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