Eternity In An Hour

The three girls from Updike's "A&P" live across the alley from us. They sunbathe. They laugh in high registers. They maneuver. The passing of time, for these girls, is still a fairly abstract concept. It's some kind of haze. That this haze burns off of youth is both a blessing and somewhat of a sad thing...I was never a farmer's daughter, but I remember afternoons that lasted an eternity.