Mother Nature continues to be kind. Right now it is 81° with a forecast of partly sunny and partly cloudy. I always wonder why the weatherman needs to say both. I figure if it is partly cloudy then it must also be partly sunny. What else could it be? The breeze is strong and cooling.

Today is a lazy day. I could do some chores, but I won’t. The dogs have set the tone, both are sleeping.

When I was a kid, we often went to the beach on Sundays. My mother packed the picnic basket, gathered the towels, pails and shovels and a blanket for sitting on the sand. My father made the bug juice. My favorite picnic dish was my mother’s peppers and eggs. It was a recipe from my aunt. She cooked them just before we left. She had a secret ingredient, a bit of tomato sauce. We ate the peppers and eggs in rolls. It was always the first thing I grabbed to eat. My mother also made sandwiches, packed potato chips and cookies for dessert, usually Oreos. My mother never swam. She only walked along the shore line or sat on the blanket keeping an eye on my sisters. She never learned how to swim. My dad, though, was a great swimmer. He taught us to swim.

In the late afternoon, we’d pack up to go home and trudge to the car over the hot sand and the hot parking lot. We helped carry stuff. At the car, we had to sit on the seat with our feet dangling outside so my father could wash off the sand. He had this thing about sand in the car.

Sunday night we were all tired from a day in the sun and swimming in the ocean. We usually fell asleep early. I have this weird memory of falling asleep with one side of my head on the pillow and feeling warm water drain from my ear. I figured I brought some of the ocean home with me.

If I invented a morning, it would be today’s morning. The sky is so blue it looks like a painting by an artist with an eye for color. The air is cooled by a slight breeze. The sun is eye squintingly bright. The backyard is in shadows with the sun glinting through the leaves. My coffee is hot and strong. I’m on cup two. I had a bagel with cream cheese. Everything is perfect.

When I woke up, I was the rose between the thorns, the cream inside the cookies, the silver lining. The dogs were on either side of me. I couldn’t move. They were comfortable. Such is a dog’s life in my house.

When I was a kid, Saturday was a sacred day. It didn’t matter the season. The whole day was mine, at least until bath time. In winter I went to the movies or ice skated or sledded it there was snow. In summer I roamed sometimes on foot but mostly on my bike. Every Saturday started with Rice Krispies and the TV. Even when I became an adult, Saturday stayed sacred. I never did school work. Saturday night I’d be with friends either having a game night or a movie night. Saturday was always fun.

I loved my town’s library. I was a frequent visitor. It had a children’s side and an adult’s side. I graduated from the child’s side to the other side when I entered high school. The tables and chairs were all wooden on both sides. Round tables and short tables were on the children’s side while long tables were on the other side. I remember old people sitting on chairs in the periodical room reading magazines and newspapers. I never did. I was there for books. On school nights, the chairs and tables were filled with high school kids supposedly doing homework. Going to the library was a perfect way out of the house on a school night. I didn’t know most of the kids. They went to Stoneham High. They were there to meet up, to be social and pretend to be studying. I was just there for the books.

I have a quiet few days, nothing on my dance card. Next week, though, is heavy with uke. I have my usual practice and lesson plus three concerts. This week the music is about funny foods.

My plans for the day are simple. I have to water the deck plants. After that, I figure I’ll stay outside and read the day away. Maybe I’ll even nap on the lounge chair and enjoy the sun and the cool breeze. I suspect the dogs will join me on the deck and nap in the sun.