What a glorious morning it is. The sky is brilliant, as blue as blue can be. The sun is so bright everything shines and glints. It is even warmish, 46°. Nala is sleeping in the sun on a patch of grass in the backyard. Henry goes outside but still won’t come in the dog door unless someone is on the street or near my house, and he needs to bark. That’s when he rushes into the house. This afternoon I have a uke concert, our last Love Songs of the 60’s concert. Irish starts next week. 

My inner sloth is on vacation. Yesterday I cleaned. I vacuumed a couple of rooms and the stairs. I also washed and waxed those stairs. I cleared the backyard of all of Nala’s stolen good. I was exhausted. Today, when I looked out the back door, I saw what appeared to be white stuffing. I knew Nala had done it again. The victim was a gnome I had bought new this year. I had put it on the table in the living room where she couldn’t get it. I was wrong. She stood on the stairs and bent her head over and took it.

I do not like black licorice, but I love black jelly beans. One of my favorite cookies is Italian anise cookies with a tinge of licorice. My taste buds are a conundrum. 

My mother was a wizard with ground beef. She had so many recipes we never tired of it. My favorite was American chop suey. We thought it exotic and adventurous with the water chestnuts and chow bmein noodles on the top. I still think my mother made the best meatloaf. I remember she’d cover the top with ketchup and strips of bacon then she’d put it in the oven. I tried to steal the crispy bacon, but my mother was always on alert for bacon thieves. We had hamburgers on the grill. We had spaghetti with ground beef in a thick sauce. We all loved it except my father. His mother, the worst cook, used to serve spaghetti with canned tomatoes on top so my mother would serve my father the same. I make pretty much all the ground beef recipes my mother had, but have added tacos to my recipes. My freezer is never without ground beef. I count it among the staff of life foods. It joins bread, coffee and chocolate.