Yesterday’s rain stopped in the late afternoon. The sky cleared, the sun arrived and the wind disappeared. It was a whole new day. Today is humid, damp and cloudy. Not a leaf is moving in the still air. The early morning smelled of the salt and the ocean. The forecast says maybe rain. That is the weekly forecast as well, the possibility of rain every day for the next week. The high today will be 71˚ with 87% humidity.

Nala is into everything. Trash picking is the least of it. That I can handle. Last night she took a pillow, a pen, a crewel kit, paper bags and plates, cake decorations and a box of honey cornbread mix. I caught that last one before she got beyond chewing the box. Later, I went outside and found empty boxes, folded boxes from my recycle bin. Most things she sneaks outside so checking the yard is part of my daily chores.

I bought cereal the other day. My favorite Rice Krispies was in a gigantic box meant to feed a family of ten so I passed it by. They didn’t have Raisin Bran Crunch, my second favorite. I ended up buying a variety of small boxes. I had never tasted most of the cereal. The only exception was Sugar Pops, Annie Oakley’s favorite cereal. I tried the Fruit Loops. They were okay. Next was the Cocoa Puffs. Those I liked but I wasn’t destined to finish those Puffs. On the way to the couch, I tripped on a box on the floor. I didn’t fall but the full bowl of cereal went everywhere. Nala helped by eating what she could find. Henry never has gone on that side of the room so I felt bad for him. He ended up licking the bowl and eating the few Puffs left. I had to move some vinyl, a couple of baskets, some bags and a big piece of pottery so I could wipe up the milk and gather the Puffs.

When I was a kid, I could never imagine a Saturday staying at home unless a wild storm was raging, and my mother wouldn’t let me out no matter how much I begged. Now, I relish days at home, even Saturdays. As for today, I have no ambition. I am a sloth. I am happily a sloth.

The dogs woke me up at seven so I let them out, and I waited until Henry wanted in so I could open the door for him. After I did, I went back to bed. Nala joined us and her fur was wet so I knew it was raining by then. I woke at 10, and it was windy and pouring. The rain stopped for a bit then came back with a vengeance. The wind is even stronger than earlier. The pine trees are swaying. The dogs went out but are now chasing each other up and down the hall. All I hear is panting and growling, nice growls, fun growls.

My plans for the day are to hunker down at home, clean the dining room and living room and try to ignore the dogs’ paw prints in the kitchen and down the hall. My cleaning music will be Joni. The Reprise album came yesterday. A sing-a-long is definitely in order.

When I was a kid, my whole world was my house and my small town. I was usually alone when I biked except for that trip to East Boston. When I walked, my brother was sometimes with me. We walked the tracks or to the pool or the zoo. One part of the tracks ended at the depot, a brick building which had a variety of lives once the trains stopped running. The other part kept going. We never walked to the end. I still wonder where the tracks led.

I love trains. My dream when I was young was to take the train across the country. I wanted to fall asleep to the chugging of the train on the tracks. I never made it, but I have taken some spectacular rides.

Ghana used to have passenger trains. I took them whenever they fitted into my itinerary. The one to Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, was the train I took the most. I always went first class which wasn’t expensive but was always comfortable. Each first class compartment had four leather seats. Most of the time I was by myself. Looking out the window was my favorite way to pass the time. I could see the backs of compounds and small houses. When the train stopped, women and small girls were at the window selling fruit, bread and bush meat on a stick. The only way to eat the heavily peppered bush meat was to wrap it in bread.

I once went down coast from Accra to Takoradi which is the oldest port in Ghana. From there I had to switch to tro-tros or lorries as the train went no further down the coast. That was the infamous train ride when the cars jumped the tracks. I almost fell out of bed, my comfortable first class bed. I remember walking from one side of a trestle bridge to the other. That was one crazy experience.

The last train I took was the Cape Cod Railway from Hyannis to Buzzards Bay. My mother and I took the train together a couple of times and once with my aunt the nun. We’d get off in Sandwich, shop and have lunch then re-board the train to go home. I love those memories.