Alexa tells me today will be cloudy. I knew that. I looked out the window. It is currently 44˚. Last night it rained. The air is still. I woke up late though I went to bed early for me, 12:30. Doing nothing is exhausting.

All nonessential businesses in Massachusetts are closed. Grocery stores, of course, are still open for pick-up and delivery. Liquor stores are still open. They are considered grocery stores. Only medicinal marijuana is being sold, not recreational. Probably a mistake.

I am a lazy sort. I used to need excuses as to why I didn’t vacuum or make the bed. Not any more. I choose the dust. I choose the unruly bed and the pile of dirty clothes. I choose my books.

Two of my dafs are in full bloom and four more are very close. Their yellow is so bright in the garden I stopped for a bit this morning on my way back inside with the papers hoping to inhale that color, to keep it close in my memory drawers.

When I do crossword puzzles, I am taken aback sometimes with the clues in the difficult puzzles. Those clues are my childhood. I have answered hula hoops, Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club and The Beatles. Who, I stridently asked aloud, doesn’t know The Beatles. Henry didn’t even stir. He is used to my outbursts.

Today Nancy Pelosi said about something being Pollyannaerish, her word, not mine. I thought about the film Pollyanna, the reference I have for this word. I remembered Haley Mills, Jane Wyman, the orphans and prisms. I wondered at what age Pollyanna becomes simply a name, not a definition. I know what Nancy Pelosi is saying. I saw the movie.

I have lights on. They are comforting on days like today. I’m watching old movies, happy endings mostly. I even watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. I have no shame.

I watch news shows with correspondents broadcasting from home. I like to check out what I can see of their rooms. One MSNBC correspondent was in a room covered with palm frond wallpaper, or I think it was wallpaper. It could have been painted. Either way it isn’t my taste. I like the Jimmy’s: Fallon and Kimmel. They have short films from their houses. Jimmy Fallon has a neat slide from one room down to another. I liked his rooms. I liked Formal Friday which had been touted by Jimmy Kimmel. At his house, all the Kimmels are just fine, dressed fit for a fancy restaurant. I liked that too.

As for me, I’m hanging in. I have lots of stuff to keep me busy.

Today is an ugly day, a raw, cold, cloudy day. I’m glad I’m stuck inside the house. We all have food. Agway delivered today.

When I walk across the room, tumbleweeds blow left and right of my feet. I’m thinking cowboy boots and spurs, part of a metaphor of sorts, but I’d be wrong. There are no tumbleweeds, just clumps of fur, a combination of black and white fur so the clumps look grey. I really need to vacuum though I prefer the boots and spurs.

Henry comes in the dog door if he feels like it. If not, he stands outside the door looking in. Either I hide in the den hoping he’ll come in on his own or I go get him in, drawn by the sad face and the paw hitting the door every couple of minutes.

Kids are drawing outside on driveways using chalk. One had a giant, grinning sun with rays all around it. The message underneath said Smile. Kids are answering each other.

The governor has issued a stay at home advisory effective tomorrow which also closes stores except those offering necessary services like grocery stores, medical facilities, gas stations and pharmacies. Only essential people should be out and about. I am glad for all these businesses who have taken to delivering. I have what I need because of them.

I sometimes don’t see or talk to anyone for a few days or even longer. I don’t think it odd. The first time I ever lived alone was in Ghana. I was so very homesick, but I kept this to myself, not comfortable yet with close-by volunteers. I worked through it. It took a couple of months or even a bit more, but I started to love teaching and being in Ghana. I embraced the experience. I liked the alone time, and I liked being part of the community. If I had been with another volunteer that first year, we would have been together speaking English and keeping home.

I have lived alone here for close to 45 years. I don’t mind. I get to pick any TV station I want, anything I want for dinner, sensible or not, and how little or how much I do. I talk to my family. I like my days. They haven’t really changed. I’m doing just fine. I just need chocolate or hard Peeps.