oh, sun! oh, warm sand and salty lips. after weeks of rain and grey, the sun--and everything it touched--seemed extraordinary, glorious. light through the window, green mountains, neighbors and friends chatting outdoors--wonderful.

i spend monday mornings with kenyon, a four year old boy who loves mango popsicles and cowboy boots. he changes from pajamas into swimming shorts and we walk to the beach behind his house where he collects rocks and searches for sea glass. afterwards, when he is clean and dressed in a pair of blue jeans, kenyon looks at me with endearing insecurity and asks, 'do you think i'm handsome?'