Loveliness all around.

Today, right in the middle of the very sunny afternoon, a friend drove up from the next town down the road, and she brought her one-year-old and the backpack in which one can carry the one-year-old during a walk, and we took a walk through town, talking to and making noises with this little one. It was a good long spot of glee in what had already been a good day and in what is shaping up to be a quiet early spring evening. Looking at the pictures her mother took of me and the baby as we walked around, and thinking about the Easter party I attended yesterday (where I met a whole roomful of people about my age, all because of yet another friend I've made this year), I realize anew what goodness I've found here: I had hoped I'd come to Cambridge and find a partner, but instead it would seem that I've come here and found more excellent friends. And I'll tell you, I'm not one to scoff at that.

Tonight the dusk is going down lavender, a color that my camera can't even bring itself to see. I've had to help it along a little, toning the picture so that it matches what's out the window in front of me. It's now just as light as it was when I arrived in September: high sun in my flat from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. and sunsets that go on for an hour. When we spring forward on Saturday night, we'll have days whose light doesn't end until well after 8.