Angels

“Wait!” I thought to myself this morning. “So maybe Halloween is past, and maybe we didn’t get any pictures of the little angel Penny other than the one taken hurriedly on the porch before the ward party . . . so hurriedly that kids couldn’t even be bothered to get out from behind a tree branch, or asked to move a little out of a big shadow, because they had already seen neighbors leaving; and pausing on the porch at all was nearly too much to bear. There is no rule against putting a costume back on on November 3rd, is there?”

I didn’t think there was. And besides, it might just be us getting ready for Christmas, for all anybody knows -- what with her costume looking like something straight out of a Nativity. Penny wasn’t wholly willing. She wanted toast. With jam. And she wanted it that minute. Still, I managed to coax her quickly into her costume, and we rushed down the street for a few fast angel shots.

I loved the sunlight glowing through her little wings and halo. For a minute I could almost believe she really was a tiny visitor from heaven – treading carefully on this tangled and imperfect world.

Maybe that’s exactly what she is.

And speaking of this world. Hello boys. Boys and mess. Boys and cars. I can still picture them as angels. Just cute messy little angels with crooked halos and a bit of dirt smeared on their faces.