I rushed through my morning routines to make it to a 10:00 appointment in town. For the first day all week, the morning felt truly like summer, and I was glad to drive with the windows down in the sunshine. My friends leave me messages on apps like Marco Polo and Voxer, so solo drives are the best time to catch up.

At lunch, I picked up Edith and took her back-to-school shopping at the Colorado Mills. It doesn’t take long to get down the mountain, but it feels like a different world: suburban convenience, Denver temperatures, and more people than there are parking spots. We stopped for food and Crisp and Green before we shopped until we dropped.

When we got home, Trevor was hosting a friend and his daughter, who was only two and hysterical. We had beers and snacks on the deck, and the new neighbor brought us fresh eggs, wrapped up beautifully.

Around 7, Trevor’s barber, Joe, came up to the house with his girlfriend, Maddie. Joe is making house calls now, and Maddie used to cut hair, so we all lined up for our turn.

It cooled down quickly and the light was rose gold over the canyon, but as the sun sank, clouds rolled in and it rained deep into the night again.