I�ve had one of those weekends where if my friend M. were to accuse me of living �in Paradise,� as he regularly does, I would be inclined to agree with him. It�s been perfect summer weather. The yard is full of blooming things � late lilacs, vibernum, honeysuckle, campanula, irises in rainbow colors, astilbes, watercress, forget-me-nots, delphiniums, lamium, corydalis and a hundred others. Yesterday morning I walked up to the pool, slipping through the fern-lined woodland trail, passing the ducks bathing in the waterfalls. I swam for about a half an hour � the first time since last September � and emerged, dripping, to meet AJ, whom my husband had brought down to play. AJ was beside himself with excitement over the fact that the pool was finally open. The unheated kiddie pool was arctic, so AJ spent the better part of a half an hour shuttling water from the main pool to the wading pool in a small blue bucket.

When we�d had enough sun and chlorine, we meandered home, stopping along the way to pick up what looked like a brand new baseball that AJ spied in some tall grass. He was so pleased with his find that he carried held it in the air over his head until an idea came into his head.

�Mommy, what if the little boy who lost it wants it back?� �Well, it�s just a baseball. My guess is if it�s still here (in a park far, far away from any little boys) that the boy�s forgotten all about it.� AJ pondered this for a moment and then hid the ball under his T-shirt. �I�m going to hide it so he doesn�t know I have it,� he announced. �And when we get home, I�m going to lock the door so he doesn�t come in to get it.� I assured him that the baseball was unlikely to be claimed but that if it were, we would need to give it back. He seemed satisfied with the response and instead decided that we should play baseball with it immediately upon arriving home, so that we�d get a game in before any baseball-less little boys might show up on our doorstep.

We shared a picnic on a blanket in the shade of the plum tree before our baseball game, which was relatively brief, due to a swiftly moving thunderstorm that blackened the sky and sent us scurrying around to collect our pool towels and swimsuits from the deck rails before the deluge. And deluge it did. We retreated indoors for naps and to listen to the crashing of thunder and the rain drumming on the roof.

After dinner, AJ�s preferred babysitter came over. He barely acknowledged our departure as my husband and I headed out for an evening of shopping and dinner out. Today we repeated the entire process up until naptime, minus the storms. The rest of the weekend is likely to bring more grading (I�ve finished their exams, but am still working on their papers). But no matter how bad they might be, it will be hard for them to dampen my spirits.

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