The Perfect Evening

There are some perfect evenings in North Carolina, after the pollen has gone, when the potted flowers on the terrace are all in bloom, before the humidity and the bugs have come, and the temperature feels not warm, but not cool, but soft. Tonight was one of those nights.

You can’t predict when they are going to come. There is no way to send an invitation that says, come eat on the terrace only if all the planets line up just right, otherwise don’t come.

Thankfully, I had invited Lee and Tom to come for Sunday supper and conditions were just right for eating on the terrace. We sat in the living room for drinks, but when dinner time came I invited everyone outside. Lee said she didn’t know the terrace was there. That’s because we are not going to eat out there unless conditions are perfect. And they were.

So we lingered over dinner and the peach and blueberry cobbler I threw together at the last minute. Eventually the sun set, but we had the outdoor lamps to keep the party going. Even with the lamps on the table turned on, there were hardly any bugs. Just that lady bug that got in Lee’s water.

Maybe we can have dinner outside tomorrow. There just aren’t that many perfect evenings. I’m so glad we caught one tonight. Maybe we should eat breakfast outside.