In a tangle after an early birthday celebration - she'll be eight tomorrow.

And from the foot of the bed, all I can see is the book and her fingers.

On the table at the end of the evening.

What happens if I just draw the shaded side of the glue bottle?

Leaves on the tall serviceberry outside the dining room window begin their progression toward gold. At the peak of color, I will feel as if we have a new source of light there, set against the shortening hours of daylight. For now, though, we just have hints of the change to come.

Store-bought. Vanilla. Much like the others in the box, I imagine. I'll leave those - untested - for school lunches.

We are well into the season for local apples. I can never remember which variety is which, but that's o.k. - all taste good, and some are phenomenal.

As one phase of a project winds up, another set of work begins.

We had some of these with breakfast this morning.

Her sketchbook balanced on a pillow - she concentrated on drawing everything on the mantelpiece - a complex arrangement in pencil. I watched her work, half-listened to the debate, and added layers of color to a quick ink sketch.

Up late reading the news online. And playing Miss Milligan.

I found five pennies over the course of our walk home from school today - first saw two together on the sidewalk, then found another a little further down the block, then there was one on the next block, and I found the last one after we'd gone around the corner and two blocks further on. "You are lucky times five," said my daughter. "Someone is leaving a trail for you."

The sunflowers from ten days ago have only just now begun to shed petals.