Alexa told me it would rain between 7 and 8 this morning. It was ten by then, but she was right. It had rained. The driveway inside the fence was still wet.

We have another wonderful morning. It is 75° and sunny. The air is mostly still. Only the leaves at the top of the tallest oak are moving. I can hear the hum of insects and an occasional bird song.

I need to do house chores. My sloth has to ignore me for a while. I have some mementoes from the town where I grew up. On the window sill in the kitchen is a Weiss Farm milk bottle. I used to bike to the farm and watch the cows. The path from the barn to the field was filled with hoof prints, and it was all muddy when it rained. I remember thinking cows only rambled. They were in no hurry. I think they were Holstein cows. I could see bales of hay in front of the barn. I never saw people.

I have several old post cards of places now only memories. The uptown card has all the stores where I used to window shop rolling my bike on the sidewalk. The police box in the middle of the square is still there. It was destroyed when a car hit it. I remember seeing the policeman inside working the traffic lights. Pullo’s Drug is there. Mr. Pollo was my father’s friend. His store was small compared to Middlesex Drug across the street. The soda fountain had only four stools. The tops were red. I can see Hank’s Bakery and. Another pharmacy two doors down from Pullo’s. My town seemed to have a plethora of drug stores. One picture of the square has a horse and wagon in the middle. I love the card of my grammar school, St. Pat’s, and of the rectory beside it. It is a wonderful three story building with a wrap-around porch. My school is beside it, the angel statue in front. Out the side door is a walkway with plank. In my day it was paved. I used that door because the crowd went out the other side. The Dairy Queen picture has a full parking lot. The building resembles a barn. In front is an ad for a quart of Mr. Misty.

The library is where I spent so much time. On the card is a picture of the original, small building. A girl is walking on the sidewalk in front. She is wearing a hat, a mid-length dress and what looks like button top shoes. On the back is a message starting with Friend and ending with bushels of hugs and kisses. The postmark is dated 1911. I remember seeing the metal plaque by the front door which said it was a Carnegie library. The building was opened in 1904. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is so much bigger now.

I loved growing up in my town.

Today is the ideal day. The breeze is constant. The bright sun is glinting off every leaf. It is 74°. I’m thinking it is time to put on the screen doors.

The other night I watched a WWII movie, The 1000 Plane Raid. The title is a spoiler. It is the entire plot. Though I had already seen the movie, I watched it again. The movie was released in 1969. I saw it in 1970 in Niamey, Niger of all places. It was at an outside venue. The showing was sponsored by the American Embassy. I don’t remember if there was popcorn. What I do remember are the mosquitoes. They were relentless.

When I was a kid, my father hunted mosquitos. He’d chase them with a rolled up magazine in hand. He’d go from room to room weapon in hand. I’d wake up when he was on my mattress and juggling his feet back and forth to keep his balance. The mattress rolled so much I remember thinking I’d get seasick. I remember his cursing when he killed a mosquito which had already bitten. The bloody spot stayed on the ceiling. I remember the blotches.

Summer suppers were more casual. The oven made the kitchen too hot to use. The heat just stayed there lingering in the air. We were not a salad family except when I was older, but it was potato salad, not green salad. We ate a lot of corn on the cob mostly in August. My father loved his native tomatoes slathered with mayo. I ate hot dogs often and never minded how frequently. I topped them with mustard and piccalilli. We only had yellow mustard back then. Nobody ever put ketchup on a hot dog. That seemed like desecration. When I was older, I ate cheeseburgers. That pattern still continues. I eat a lot hot dogs. My mustard right now is honey pineapple. I don’t cook burgers at home, but I order them often when I eat out. Sometimes I use mayo and other times ketchup. I like my roll toasted.

My dance card this week is uke heavy. In addition to practice and my lesson, I have three concerts. Our book this month is across America.