Bliss!

I am inside on what is perhaps the most beautiful day of our summer (so far). It is warm in the sun, but there is the gentlest of a westerly breeze to cool you. In the shade it is altogether perfect. I would love to curl up in the setee on our porch with a good book, but instead I am in the kitchen.

That is not necessarily a bad thing though. We have several events coming up over the next few days -- including Peach's 10th birthday -- that warrant a need for some baking. I need to take advantage of the lack of humidity (since our airconditioning is not hooked up due to this past winter's renovations) and get this done while I can.

As I wait for the cookies to bake, I am sitting in front of the laptop at the dining room table. The patio door is open and I can hear the chatter and giggles of the children as they warm up from some boisterous play in the pool. The sparrows have a constant chatter going on, and every so often, I can hear the gentle coo of the morning dove and the soft "tsee" of the waxwings.

The air has the scent of baking of course, but when a breeze drifts softly in from outside, I catch the scent of the flowers I picked fresh this morning. Perennial sunflowers, alpine asters, and shasta daisies - a joyful mix of yellow, white, and purple. There is also the distinctive scent of summer. I can't describe it in a word because I think it is a mingling of a thousand scents -- ripening wheat, growing crops, blooming plants, sunscreen, bbq's, distant rainshowers, mowed lawns, heat rising off everything the sun's rays touch, mingling with the scent of life. Bliss!! These are the days I wish could last forever. I hope heaven will be much like this, only better!