palmettowest: Daylight Fading

Heat, that was only a memory to us, arrived on Tuesday, blowing in like Mary Poppins - no scarf necessary- and landing with purpose, agile, on our rooftop, sneaking in our doors and windows that have been open ajar for only a few weeks. This heat stifled our sometimes gentle coastal breeze, interrupting rudely and without warning. This heat seeped in our home and lay there coiling around the floors like a steam that rises over cool mountain water. We shed clothes, and talked about hot Southern summers that we suddenly have not missed as much as we thought. The summers when a sister and I won our first freckles, running with weathered feet in the grass, and across lukewarm creeks(until the snake incident/daring-made-us-believe-we -could-do-anything rescue that brought our summer creek fun to a screeching halt) and then hovering in the dark, burgundy den under the plastic box pumping cool air into the room from the kitchen window. The quieter we were, the cooler we stayed. Back then, the nights never cooled down, the moonlight only hissed some of the steam away. But youthful spirit reigned, and only old people sat on their porches and complained about the weather.

Here and now, Ben lost his battle to resist turning on the air to cranky children that were too sticky to sleep and therefore, could not bear to let others get away with winks of sleep, the deep heavy kind where one dreams of the jingle-y tune of the ice cream truck. With darkness for only a precious 6 hours, every moment counts, so the air blasted today through the metal vents. And tonight, as the daylight faded, some our water spun breeze whispered across the deck. So, with the windows back open and a cross breeze no longer taken for granted, we say good night.

At 9:50pm, an hour and half after kisses, prayers, and whispered good nights, this is how I found the kids.