Amid a dreamy summer night

Do you remember when you were little, and Mom would make you go to bed in the summer while the sun was still shinning? It was so frustrating to look out the bedroom window at the orange light, thinking there was still time to play. The sun was still out, why wasn't I.
Last night just as the sun was setting and my children should have been going to bed, we grabbed our dog's leash and took a walk. Like vampires in an old movie, the neighborhood seems to wake when the sun goes down. We waved to neighbors we passed, meet new dog friends at the park and played imaginary baseball in the cool grass. I thought of magical nights in Prospect Park, Brooklyn with fireflies. And cool summer evenings in Virgina, looking for wild rasberries. Summer nights were meant to be enjoyed. Some how it stretches time. Even the kids feel it and everyone gets along. It doesn't take much to make a summer night feel special somehow, like a rare event. And of course, its nice when the kids sleep in the next day.