for everything

Lately, Alex has demanded we sit outside every afternoon in our front garden.  I'd love to think that it's because she craves quality time with her dear old mum, but the truth is, she's just waiting for the kid across the street to come home, the one for whom she professes undying love, and she knows I won't let her in the front garden unsupervised.

So yesterday afternoon we sat outside, and she was prattling on and on about the kids in her school, or princesses, or why Word Girl and Captain Huggy Face are so particularly awesome, when all of a sudden she stopped cold and caught her breath.  I immediately looked around for the kid across the street.

"Fall," she whispered, and then bolted.

She ran to the curb, turned her head rapidly to the right and left (not actually looking to see if traffic was coming, you understand), and ran out into the middle of the road.  She bent over to pick something up, and then rushed back to me, holding out a crinkly, dried-up, old, brown leaf.

"Look, Mummy!"  she exclaimed breathlessly.  "Autumn!"

Indeed.  And around these parts, that crinkly, dried-up, old, brown leaf is about the extent of it, too.

Song:  Joyful, Joyful, as performed by Lauryn Hill and the cast of Sister Act 2:  Back in the Habit.   I have no idea what made me think of this song (or this particular version of it, for that matter), but seriously, I dare you to listen to it and have a bad day.  It can't be done, I tell you.