I like calling my dad's house Sunday morning, I can imagine it so well. The smell, the colors. I know he and Anne will be sitting at the dining room table with newspapers spread across it. In the center is a glass plate—a bear claw, an apple turnover, salt stick. Rests on the island in the kitchen, a brown bag with a few bagels inside. A silver thermos decanter of coffee. Dad takes a sip of coffee while peering over the cup still reading, the phone rings dad gets a look that something mildly unpleasant has occurred and looks over his shoulder at the phone, Anne's already up, answers.

“Hello?”

“Hi Anne” A short moment goes by where she doesn't know who's calling. I feel a certain self-righteousness about having to state who's calling so I don't say anything I feel my voice should be recognized and it is.

“Matt! Oh hi! How are you? What are you doing?”

“Oh, I'm just standing on a dusty rock, and callin yous guys. I'm doing good but it's already hot.”

“Oh, cool you-”

“No, it's hot!”

“Haha! Right, hot.”

“Are you guys sitting around drinking coffee and eating Black Sheep? And reading the newspaper?”

“We're not quite there yet your father just went out with Hannah to get some food. Hannah, John, Nate, and Josh are here so they kept us up last night so we got a late start today; but they should be back soon.”

I know if I were in Amherst they would be stopping by my apartment about this time, and I would be getting into the backseat of the gold Ford Focus, I know it probably doesn't have the bike rack on it this time of year but I can't get it off it in my mind.

“Well how about you call back in 20 minutes when they're back and we can talk more then?”

“Tell Dad he should call me back. He can figure out how to call me in an other country.” I say mostly joke.

“Haha, it costs us abou-”

“No, I'm just kidding it's cheap for me to call. I'll call back in half an hour.”

“Okie dok. We'll be waiting Bub-bye.”

“Bub-bye”

I hang up the phone and out of the corner of my eye see a foot and a half long lizard sun bathing a mans length away, it turns it head and looks past me.