Keep the Coffee Comimg

The sun is brilliant. Everything is shining in the light. On the top most branches of the oak trees, the browned remnants of the oak leaves are swaying in the slight breeze. It is 51°. The air feels like fall, chilly but not yet gasping cold. The air smells like fall, earthy from the already fallen leaves covering the ground. The air is clear. Mother Nature gives us warmth last week. This week she is easing us into winter.

I remember the walk to school on mornings like today. I didn’t dawdle in the chill. I wore mittens which kept my hands warm, but my cheeks turned red and sometimes my legs did too. I wore a sweater under my jacket. I had to wait in the school yard until the bell rang. We stood waiting in groups. It always seemed like an interminable wait. I was so glad to get into the old school building. I remember the sounds of the radiators working to keep the classrooms comfortable. We could wear our sweaters inside. They were warm enough.

I used to read more in the fall, make more trips to the library. Mostly I’d ride my bike. Sometimes my jacket would billow from the air riding up the sleeves mostly on the downhills. It was cold so I used to put my mitten tops over the bottom of the sleeves. It worked to keep me warm.

My mother would make soup for my school lunch on cold days. Usually it was either tomato or chicken noodle. She’d add a half sandwich, Saltines for the soup and something for dessert, usually cookies. She always remembered the spoon. The top of my thermos was the bowl. I learned early on to pour carefully with the chicken noodle as the noodles and chicken would plop in the top and splash on my blouse if I poured too quickly.

My coffee, both cups of it, was perfect this morning, really hot and tasty. I also had a corn muffin, warmed in the microwave. That I shared with the dogs. I thought it was the prefect breakfast, the best way to start my day.

Henry is barking so I have to limp to the back door to get him inside the house. I heard the postman’s truck so I know why he was barking. He is the protector. Nala is the comforter. When I moan as I walk, she stays beside me looking at me and wagging her tail, offering sympathy. She stops when I do and leans against me. She makes me smile.

I have a concert today, but I’m not sure I’ll be going. The playing my uke part is fine, but my leg is not so fine. Another day’s rest might be what it needs.

Yesterday I woke up late, took my time with the newspaper and had a Zoom uke practice so I just didn’t get to Coffee. Today I am just late. Nala tried to wake me up earlier by whacking me with her paws, but I hid under the pillow and fell back to sleep. Nala is sleeping now, and I was tempted to wake her up but I didn’t. I just let sleeping dogs lie (Sorry!)

Today is a fall day. The sun is muted behind the almost white clouds. It is 55° with a slight breeze, but it doesn’t feel cold. I went to the deck for a while to watch the dogs romp, and my hoodie was enough. I like today.

When I was a kid, I loved fall. The leaves were beautiful. The mornings were crisp and the afternoons warm. I loved walking through the leaves shuffling my feet. I’d save the brightest, prettiest leaves, the reds and the yellows, to iron in wax paper. I’d cut the paper to make book marks. It was my way of holding on to fall.

Soon enough, the trees became bare. The ground was covered in leaves shriveling and turning brown. Their branches looked like hands reaching. Their shadows on the sidewalks were creepy as if they were trying to grab me. My imagination used to go wild. I wouldn’t say I was afraid but I wondered. I wondered about monsters. A small part of me believed.

I loved watching Superman. I still remember the opening, the faster than a speeding bullet refrain. That nobody recognized that Clark was Superman puzzled me. No one questioned that Clark and Superman never appeared together. I wondered how Clark could hide his Superman suit with cape under his Clark clothes. We never saw it happen, but I figured Superman went back to retrieve Clark’s shirts, suit, shoes and glasses he had left in some alleyway or in a closet at the Daily Planet. I remember Clark one time appearing just after Superman had left, and he was straightening his tie. Lois wondered a few times where Clark went off to, but she never probed. She thought Clark was meek. She’d just tell Clark he had missed Superman then file her story.

Last week I had a completely empty dance card, but this week my dance card is full, uke heavy. I have already had practice but I still have four concerts and my lesson on Wednesday. We are singing cowboy songs.