High Dive, photo by Harold Davis. View this photograph larger.

Everyone slept relatively late this morning, and when I came downstairs with the kids the last of the soft morning light was disappearing. I asked Phyllis if she minded tending the kids for ten or fifteen minutes while I took some photos, and she accepted the role of photographic widow and maternal martyr gracefully.

The windows were open, and inside I could hear the kids creating their usual chaos. I saw this bug on a zinnia, and I prayed the photographer’s prayer: please hold still while I capture this one exposure.

My prayer granted, and the insect captured on my memory card, I headed back inside to face the new day and what it would bring—just like this bug.