The other afternoon, while Kim was at the movies, Skylar and I came home to one of those rain showers that's light enough to play in, yet heavy enough to make good splashes. She used her duck umbrella; I borrowed her ladybug one from IKEA. Then I followed her up and down the street as she did her best Gene Kelly impression. Afterwards, she relaxed in the front yard Kim has worked so hard to improve:

Then she surveyed her domain. The monsoon has seemed fairly light so far, but at least our flood-control basin is newly rich with green. I call it our temporary Ireland:

Later on, Laurie and Travis brought over some chocolate chip cookies and invited Skylar over for an evening play session. I made sure she crossed the street safely, then headed back inside to finish my dinner. But the light was too good, so my spicy ground beef-and-onion with feta concoction had to wait. I fetched the camera and photographed from sunset to afterglow. Sometimes even a subdivison can mimic the Spanish baroque:

Here's our house -- taken from Kim's parents front yard -- in all its tract-home glory:

I'm not the world's most religious person, but I will gladly prostrate myself before the god of light.

Mode: illumined
Muse: Summertime - Charlie Parker - Jazz 'Round Midnight