Today is more May than yesterday. For the concert we sat in the sun on the concrete sidewalk. It was in the mid-70’s. The sun beat me down despite the straw hat and the cold water. The concert though was wonderful as was the audience.They hung around and sang along with The Beach Boy songs. Today will stay in the 60’s. It is clear and sunny with a breeze. While my coffee was brewing, I stood outside for a while and watched the dogs. It was pleasant standing there.

I will continue my cleaning frenzy today. The dining room is next. It is better than the living room was. I can’t write a novel in the dust, only a short story.

When I was a kid, I think May was my favorite month. The air was sweet with flowers. The trees were green and full. Some mornings a sweater was enough. We dawdled a bit on the walk to school. In the afternoons we could play outside longer every day. My bike stayed out of the cellar.

I believed pretty much everything my mother told me. She was the explainer. Carrots helped me see in the dark. Beggars can’t be choosers though I had no idea what that meant until I was older, but it did stop me in my tracks as it was meant to. I had this vision of a lump of gum sitting for years in my stomach. Lying not only made my nose grow but it also turned my tongue black. Santa keeps his eyes on you all year long which is sort of creepy if you think about it. Crossing my eyes and sticking out my tongue could be causes of permanent facial deformation. Drinking coffee would stunt my growth. Eating too much chocolate would cause acne. I never went outside with wet hair as I didn’t want to court a cold. I believed that chocolate milk came from brown cows. When I was older, I realized that my mother believed some of these things she told us like not swimming after eating so we wouldn’t get cramps and drown and not sitting close to the TV so we wouldn’t go blind, but others were lies with good intentions.

My dance card has my weekly uke events but the schedule is a bit weird. On Tuesday I have both a concert and my usual practice while on Wednesday I have my lesson and an afternoon concert. I still need a dump run and a few groceries. Life goes on.

Today is perfectly lovely. It is a day to sit outside and bask in the warmth of the sun. We have already hit 64°. A slight breeze is ruffling the oak leaves. The blue sky is striking. I think I need a bit of deck time.

When I came downstairs this morning, I noticed I had forgotten to shut the back door. I’ve done that before so it is not an indicator of creeping dementia. The last time I did Henry went out and didn’t come in because for him the dog door is only one way, out. That time his barking woke me up so I went downstairs to let him back into the house. This time he stayed put.

Things seem to carry with us the whole of our lives. When I was a kid, I read all the science fiction books in the town library. They were on a tall, narrow shelf on the wall behind the librarian’s desk. There weren’t so many of them so it was easy to read them all. I still read science fiction. I loved the classic monster movies like Dracula and The Mummy. Every Halloween now I watch one or two of them. I alternate. When I was 11, I vowed I would travel. I would see the world. It is a vow I have kept the whole of my life. The sights I have seen amaze me, tickle me. It was when I was in the eighth grade that President Kennedy started the Peace Corps. I knew I’d serve some day. I held on to that dream, maybe even that expectation, through high school and college. I still remember the joy I felt when I received my acceptance letter. I was going to Africa, a place I hadn’t imagined.

As for the more mundane hanging around after all these years, I have always hated beans of any sort but especially baked beans. I find them disgusting looking. I liked cream corn but hated to look at it and didn’t want it to slide into any other food on my plate. I feel the same about oozing cream corn. When I was young, people served Jello with fruits suspended inside. I didn’t like Jello anyway, and, when served with the fruit, it looked almost alien. I could imagine the fruit having huge teeth and chomping on the spoon. I have never eaten Jello.

I have a to do list for today including a trip to the dump. I want to polish the living room furniture with a real cloth instead of my sweatshirt sleeve. I’ll vacuum the dog hair balls in the hall. They mar my sensibilities. I’ll water the plants.

I may not have time tomorrow to write and publish Coffee. I have an early concert and will be leaving home around 10:40. It is our first outdoor concert, and the weather will be perfect, in the 70’s, yup, the 70’s.