The sun was here a while back but has since gone elsewhere though it is supposed to return. It is one of those partially cloudy days. It is cold, in the 30’s, and won’t get any warmer. The wind is still around. I heard a noise earlier and found Miss Nala trying to get a box through the dog door. It stayed in the kitchen, but I noticed another box was missing. I went into the yard and found the box and wrappers from stolen foods. I did a quick cleanup. Most of the wrappers were old. I have been successful of late in keeping the food safe from felonious Nala.

When I was a kid, winter fun was dependent upon the weather. If it was really cold, we could go ice skating on the swamp. If it was snowy, we could go sledding down the hill. I remember we also built forts in the snow piles left by the plows. One year the snow was so high we built a tall fort with rooms. We used water to make the walls icy hard. The first room was the biggest. That was where we mostly hung out. We’d sit inside and eat lunch. From there a small, narrow passageway led to the next room and another passageway led to the last room. That fort with its icy walls lasted through the winter and was the last pile of snow to melt.

The only chain store in my town when I was a kid was the First National grocery store. The other shops and stores were unique. We had a Chinese restaurant, The China Moon, a McDonald’s sort called Carrolls, Santoro’s Sub Shop and the Stoneham Spa. Hank’s was the best bakery. I used to stand outside by the picture window where I could smell the aroma of bread baking. Grant’s and Woolworth’s were on the same block. I always thought Woolworth’s was the shopping spot for kids, not Grant’s. We had three drug stores, two of them right up-town. Both of those had a fountain. The movie theater was smack dab in the middle of the square. I remember the first time I went to a night movie. It was a fund raiser for my girl scout troop. I wore my uniform and greeted people at the doors. I felt almost famous.