last night heather came over with angel food cake (mmmm breakfast!) blueberries and bryers french vanilla icecream. we indulged. then we lazed about talking about birds and looking at bird books. we were supposed to go for a walk on the dike but i knew we were fast fading when heather said she didn't mind just talking about birds instead, and it sounded good to me. but we roused ourselves and trudged out the door.

lucky we did. it was such a beautiful night and the sun was just setting. i wish i could have captured it. the purple wild flowers against the field of green reeds, the shining waters... the sun was setting in a clear spot where the mountains fell away on either side, darker blue fading into lighter blue and the sky was a choral, salmon. i loved it. i wanted to sit on the bench forever and look at the blue herons in the distance and wonder why when it got dark all the seagulls were flying in the same direction, and where they were going, and if i would see an owl as the sky darkened, but to tell you the truth it was the ugly awkward flying larvae fluttering at our faces that drove us away. heather had a cloud of mosquitos over her head like pig pen.