quiet days

One of the things I love about autumn is the way that the world--at least, my little corner of it--seems to slow down from the frantic pace of summer. No one seems to use the park across the street from my house after baseball season is over, so I get the feeling that the land and the pond are mine until the next April. In spring and early summer, the park is swarming with Little Leaguers and their parents, and the land next to the pond becomes a parking lot filled with SUVs and minivans. But by July 4th, the baseball players seem to vanish and the park and pond are mine.

On Sunday I took Aidan to the pond to see if the swan family were out. A few days before, we saw them--two grown parents, and four nearly-grown cygnets. The cygnets had been hiding all summer, it seems, because I hadn't seen them all season. The day we saw them, they seemed eager for company, for as soon as they saw us from the other side of the pond, they headed straight for our shore. I couldn't help but think they looked like a flotilla of pre-industrial sailing ships.

Anyway, this time, the swans kept to the other side of the pond, but the water was so still I had to take a picture of it anyway. It's hard to believe that the bustling city of Boston is just a 15-minute drive away.

Now I thought I should show you a work in progress, as opposed to hauling out the old relics. Here is a sleeve from a cardigan I'm making for Aidan. The design is by Debbie Bliss, and the yarn is Cleckheaton Country 8 ply in a bright blue. The back and both fronts are done now, and for the first time ever, I'm working both sleeves at the same time (I put the other sleeve on the other needle off-camera so you could see the pattern a bit better). I thought that would help me make sure that the sleeves are the same, but boy, it sure is slow going! I sometimes feel like I'm making no progress at all, but I am.