~from Ami

Sunday night Brett and I walked our mile under the rising full moon- glowing white and mottled just on the horizon as we made our way down the hill. Across the pasture, three deer started at the sound of our voices when we stopped to pick persimmons. All around the trees were turning the flame-colors of fall- rust and tangerine and bright yellow- one last show of blood and fire before winter comes.

We dragged chairs out into the front yard and let our naughty little Jack Russell, Spot, play with the neighborhood Lab (whose Indian name is He-Who-Eats-Sunday-Newspapers). With a telescope, we sat and looked for the Sea of Tranquility on the moon- wondering at the astronauts' footprints still etched there. My friend and neighbor wandered by, out for a cigarette-less stroll on this perfect October night.

While we sat and talked and searched through the telescope, the smell of the two brugmansia trees began to scent the air. Their apricot-colored, trumpet-shaped flowers wait until sundown to release a fragrance that is sweeter than roses. Pale morning glories that have overrun the garden this year began to glow against the darkening sedum that has been bent to the ground by heavy rainfalls.

There's a lyric from my son's John Reuben CD {Boy vs. the Cynic} that struck me full force last week. He says, "Who knew that being content could be a dream come true?"

Take those slices of life-- the full moons, the cool nights, leaves the color of jewels, the hour lost in a blanket on the front porch-- and find contentment in them wherever you are!