Chubby cheeks packed in bright suits and drenched in water

Who’s that corn have to be knee high to?

The dark green of the corn, the gold of the wheat

Wheat harvest (watching it, not having my hubby stress over work complications related to combine breakdowns and such)

The rounds of birthdays and the memories they inevitably inspire, followed by teary reflections on how those babies grow…and grow….and grow….

Ballgames: sweating in the stands, cheering from the crowd, picture-taking from odd angles, and grimy, exhausted toddlers at the end

Bike riding, trampoline jumping, and sand piling, all done by people under age ten (at heart)

Visitors you meet for the first time

Visitors you don’t get to see very often

Trips to be a visit family, involving splashing and cakes and new shoes and belly laughs

Long days, short nights

The smell of folding the laundry that’s been sunning itself all day out on the line

The smell of washing the kid that’s been sweating herself all day out in the yard

Black-eyed Susans, day lilies, coneflowers, and more, oh my!

Second-cutting hay wafting in through the windows

Fair time!