I had a long and glorious Fourth of July weekend. My best friend Tracey and h...

I had a long and glorious Fourth of July weekend.
My best friend Tracey and her college-bound daughter Roxanne (who still sometimes calls me Aunt Kate) came to stay.
There were boisterous gatherings. There was great food. There was laughter.
There were sparklers.
Some day when I am very old, I will wake up in the winter darkness and think that I have only dreamed these long days of light, this greenness, this deep joy.
So I will post these words here to say that it was not a dream.
It was...