summer noon
Back to the proud old planet that was always home , no matter how far you wandered under alien suns . Back to the shining cities clustered along blue seacoasts . Back to the golden grainlands of the central states and the high , blue grandeur of the western mountains . And back to the myriad tiny things that she remembered best , the little , friendly things ... a stretch of maple-shadowed streets heavy and still with the heat of a summer noon ; a flurry of pigeons in the courthouse square ; yellow dandelions in a green lawn , the whir of a lawnmower and the smell of the cut grass ; ivy on old bricks and the rough feel of oak bark under her hands ; water lilies and watermelons and crepe papery dances and picnics by the river in the summer dusk ; and the library steps in the evening , with fireflies in the cool grass and the school chimes sounding the slow hours through the friendly dark . She thought to herself , `` It 's been such a long time since you were home . There will be a whole new flock of pigeons now . '' She smiled at the recollection of the eager , awkward girl of twenty that she had been when she had finished school and had entered the Government Education Service .