Neighbors

Last night Evee and I sat on the porch eating ice cream cones.  It was just at that time of night when it is oh so perfect.  Some of the older girls around here were still playing outside, seeing how far they could kick a ball to each other and dreading that their mom was about to call them in.  Another neighbor walked past and Evee promptly said, "It's our neighbor." as she usually does with those particular neighbors who she can't remember the names of.

All the way to the store to get the cones and all while sitting on the porch Evee and I commented on the beauty of the evening. 

I thought about how wonderful it is to sit on a porch during that time of night.  To enjoy the warmth of the day and the breeze of the sun fading.  To enjoy ice cream and not care that it's going down her dress, since the dress was already very dirty from the playing that happened during the day. 

I thought about how nice it is to sit on your own porch and see kids playing in the green space between ours and the next apartments.  To look up and see other neighbors/friends sitting on their porches since the apartments face each other. 

As Evee's evening drew to an end we could hear her singing as she fell asleep in bed.  Friends (also neighbors) came over - we spent the next number of hours sitting on our couches, talking, relaxing...being together. 

I'm so thankful for these things - the quiet, the laughter, the singing...the peace in these moments.