The morning is pretty. It is still. The wind blew itself out last night. The rain stayed a while then it too left. The muggy air is gone. The sky is blue, a darkish blue. It is 80° but it is supposed to get hotter. The back of the house, though, is still cool. The sun has yet to make its way around. The dogs, as is their usual habit, are having their morning naps. Both are sleeping on the cool floor.

Tuesday has little to commend it. It is an ordinary day. Seldom does anything happen on a Tuesday. It just sort of moves the week along.

August is the summer’s last hurrah. It is also the hottest month. I always thought the heat happened so we’d look forward to September and cooler weather. It made sliding into the start of school easier. Woolworth’s was our go to back to school store for supplies. We’d walk uptown with my mother. We’d buy a book bag, a pencil case, crayons, just a six pack, note paper and a lunch box. I loved my new pencil case and used to open it just to check out what was inside. Besides the pencils, there was a ruler, a pink eraser, five small colored pencils, a pencil sharpener and the triangle. I never knew what the triangle was used for. I just made straight lines with it. Much later I found out it was a compass which sort of confused me at first. The only compass I knew indicated direction. I used to pack my school bag over and over, sort of test runs before the big day.

Every summer’s day was filled with fun, some with swimming or bike riding or games and crafts at the playground. After a while, though, they all sort of blended together. I didn’t want to admit it, but summer had become a bit boring. Nothing was new.

Time kept moving faster. The end of summer and the start of school was nipping at our heels. We still had new school shoes’ shopping and clothes’ shopping for parts of uniforms we had grown out of or which looked the worst for wear, but those shopping trips weren’t fun. The shoes had to be sturdy. The uniform was boring, just a blue skirt, a white blouse and a cowboy sort of blue tie. They sort of lent themselves to the acknowledgment that summer had already had its heyday.

The wind is so strong and constant it is blowing everything, even the biggest branches, and the trees and leaves are noisy. Last night it rained, but now it is sunny. It is 76°. A thunderstorm is predicted for later, but, with the sunshine, that seems remote. I have an outside concert today so I need to keep an eye on the weather.

The spiders are here. Webs are everywhere. Even the tiniest spider is busy weaving. From here in the den I can see a couple of webs close to the ceiling and another hanging down from the wood around the door. That one is bothering me. It won’t last much longer.

Summers when I was a kid were busy. On weekdays I was always home for breakfast and supper but only sometimes for lunch as I often took lunch on the road. I made a sandwich, added cookies or chips and used a peanut butter jar for my ZaRex. Orange was the usual syrup flavor. ZaRex came in glass jugs, moonshine looking jugs, the sort Snuffy Smith used for his brew. I’d make a pitcher full, often using the colored pitcher made out of aluminum, the one with accompanying colorful glasses. It kept the ZaRex really cold. The outside of it was usually covered in condensation. I remember there was always ZaRex. My father called it bug juice.

The first sport I understood was baseball, nine innings, three outs for each side per inning. I was older before I learned nuisances like the infield fly rule, a sacrifice bunt or defensive indifference on a steal, strategic plays. The bleachers at Fenway were cheap. The T-station was close. We’d spend a day at the park. When I was a kid, the Sox weren’t very good, but I didn’t care. I loved baseball, the Red Sox and Fenway Park.

I had a friend who collected baseball cards, the only girl I knew who did. She kept her cards in boxes sorted by teams and stored under her bed. When I visited, she’d pull out her newest cards and her current favorites to show me. She went to a different school than I did after 8th grade. I lost track of her and always wondered what happened to her and her cards.

Cloudy days tend to be busy days. The house is cooler so I don’t have the heat as an excuse to be a sloth. Chores are easier to finish. I sweep and polish. I brush away the webs. I clean the appliances on the counter and the outside of the fridge, chores I seldom do. I’ll read or nap in the afternoon. I earned the idleness.