The Two Most Beautiful Words in the English Language

What started out as a perfect summer afternoon - my first here at home with all the trimmings (swing, pool, icy glass of lemon water, book) was quickly interrupted by a pesky deer fly. I swished and swatted. I waited for it to land on me so I could make the kill... and then it disappeared, only to return intermittently throughout the afternoon. Perhaps it made me appreciate everything else even more.

The sun was shining in a blue cloudless sky. I could hear the faint hum of the lawnmower in the front yard (I did have pangs of guilt for sitting so comfortably while Carm toiled in the sun). The dogs were flaked out in the shade. Grace was puttering around in her cage rearranging branches and making matchsticks. At one point I could see her trying to have a bath in her water dish - perhaps the sound of the lawnmower reminded her of a rain storm.

Life is rather good and I feel so lucky to have had this afternoon of summer sunshine.


Back to the beginning of the day... we got up early, downed a quick cup of coffee and drove 45 minutes into Quebec to get our dog food. Hurrah say the dogs - we eat again! The freezer is filled to the brim with raw meat - it should weather a day or two of power outage just fine.

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

Henry James