our romantic saturday

this morning we woke up to the sounds of little kids screaming. one of the little girls who lives in the building next to us is a tyrant: she screams orders at the other kids, and they disobey her at their peril. we saw her learning this first hand from her mother ... it was sad.

anyway, we decided that since it was a saturday, we wanted to sleep in. after all, who wants to start their day with the screeching of a pint-sized dictator? we're not living in north korea. i closed the window.

three hours later, we groggily crawled out of bed into the noon sunshine. over breakfast, we decided to go to peggy's cove before patrick had to work at six. it was a perfect day. the sky was high and clear, the sun warm. we bought pumpkin spice smoothies, new batteries for our camera, and set off.

the leaves on the trees were brilliantly red and orange and gold and green. the dark firs and shadows made the leaves in the sun seem to gleam in comparison, and everything felt as joyful as we were. we hadn't been back to peggy's cove since our honeymoon, and driving there together again was incredibly romantic and happy. the curvy, windy road sparked a surprise at every turn - funny signs, red maples flaring by the blue sky, the silvery water, families walking their dogs. houses for sale. we were zipping through a little hollow where the water curled right up to the road when the most delicious smell of fish and chips made us drool. it was hackett's cove - we have to take ashley, joel, willow, and naomi there when they come visit!!

peggy's cove was full of people - not uncommonly, especially on such a perfect day - but the water was weirdly calm. not gorgeously glassy, like in the postcards, but just tossy and ripply.

patrick was standing on the edge of a rock, watching the seaweed float, when a wave just leaped out of nowhere and soaked him up to the knees - then it went back to being still. we thought we heard it snicker as it went. we took some pictures, then decided to go back to hackett's cove for lunch ... which by this time, was actually supper. it was really good, and hackett's cove was pretty pretty pretty.

the radio played sappy music and we held hands. i didn't think it could get any better after we got married. i thought that was the epitome of happiness.

but it just keeps getting better.