Evening and night pleasures

"Come upstairs." Rick had an urgency in his voice. We'd been watching Yes, Prime Minister DVDs and he'd gone to get something. I ran up. He was standing in the hall looking through my roommate's bedroom to the balcony. The sky was a magic pink and blue.

This morning there was no rain. The birds were outdoing themselves in their singing. "Let's go down the to the lake," I suggested.

It's less than a five minute walk. At seven in the morning, the path was deserted. The lake itself was walk-on-able calm. Only in one little crevice of rock could a lapping of the water be heard. Overhead a Lufthansa plane was heading for the Cointrin airport.

We walked to the end of the dock. The pots of flowers still haven't been planted, although the side of the road is full of tulips and pansies.

Two anglophone swimmers broke the total calm. Two ducks, one on each side of the dock, paddled back and forth, not even bothering to dunk their heads into the water for their breakfast. And then it was time for our own business, nourished already by the beauty all around us.