Just about every day we end up taking a quick walk/stroller/bike ride around the little pond behind our house. It’s an easy way to get out and get fresh air since we don’t have a backyard.

Yesterday our walk was at 4:30. When we finished, the golden hour sunshine was beaming in and making everything look magical. As I made a magical dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side of mac and cheese, I couldn’t help thinking how much I want to bottle up this weather. I stood at the open kitchen window trying to soak it all in.

I want to soak up these perfect days. Chilly mornings and cool post sunset. Temps that don’t rise above mid 70’s which means you still need a sweater in the shade, but you shed layers to feel the warmth on your skin in the sun. The breeze pouring in through the window making your house smell so fresh. Sometimes you pause at the window, close your eyes and breathe it in deep. The golden pre-sunset glow that make your girls even more beautiful than they already are. The grass is still green, the leaves are just starting to turn. There’s an anticipation of soon coming cozy weather.

It’s days like these you just want to stay outside all day. Being inside seems like a crime.

We’ve had so many of these days this season. In mid July I was taking deep breaths at my kitchen window with eyes closed in a dreamy-happy state of mind  too. I don’t want these days to end. I want to live in a place that gives me these days every day.

But that’s not possible right now. So I’ll do my best to soak it up and drink it in. I wish I could bottle it up and open it mid-January when we’ve had 14 cloudy days with temps in the teens. Because that’s when I could use it most.

I’m looking forward to more typical fall temps, sweater dresses and tall boots. The time to close the windows, cuddle by the fire and burn apple cider and pumpkin pie scented candles will come soon enough.  But they bring clouds, bare trees and a need to sit by my happy light too.

So for now I will stand at my windows and sniff. Close my eyes and try to remember how these days feel. And not take a single one for granted.