I babysat for Hartley and Lael tonight, and before they left Lael casually mentioned that there was pudding mix available, should I feel the urge to make some for the kids. I didn't want pudding and Tad and Celeste didn't seem to care one way or the other, so I didn't make it. Turns out that "the kids would love you if you made them pudding" really meant "I, Lael, would love it if you made pudding so that I could eat it when I come back from my hellish meeting." I wish I'd known--I love Lael and would have loved to be helpful that way. Hopefully I'll remember next time.

I walked back up the block through the cool night and wanted to enjoy the dark, but as the suburbs have developed, our night sky has diminished. I looked up at the dim, stomach acid sky, and could see the outlines of new spring buds on the trees--slow, sweet life against quick, blunt stupidity.