Star Wishes and Shadow Games

It was the perfect summer evening.

My 5-year old Daniel and I were in the back yard of my inlaws with a blanket of fresh cut grass underfoot and a pitch-black sky freckled with clusters of diamond-like stars. He and I were alone in the dark with only the light from a street lamp illuminating sections of the yard. We played tag, hide 'n seek, and a "pretend we're animals" game he learned in school. Surely if a neighbor had come out and seen these two figures walking around on their hands and knees in the dark making all sorts of strange sounds they would think it quite odd.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was using the side of the garage to make shadow puppets. Our figures were cast larger than life as we fashioned alligators, bunny rabbits and even reindeer with our hands. At one point, the interlacing of our fingers and the way we were twirling them about looked like the inside of a kaleidescope I had as a kid. It was a good, old fashioned way to spend a summer evening and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Not long after, my hubby came outside and asked Daniel if he'd like to make a wish on a star. He squinted his eyes real tight and said, "I wish for transformers...the good ones and the bad ones...you know, like Megatron..." then he started to race inside the house. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and shouted, "Oh yeah! And a baby for my Mommy!"

Oh, if wishes on stars really came true....