The early morning was sunny. Now the sun is behind the clouds. They are suspicious clouds, the sort which hides surprises. It is cold, 39°, the high for the day. I’m warm. I’ve already had my first cup of coffee. I read the newspaper. It is an ordinary winter’s day. This morning I checked my mailbox for the first time since last Monday. When I opened it, I had the best surprise. A soft package was stuffed in at the front. It took me a while of tugging and pulling to free it and the pile of mail behind it, including a small box in the way back. As soon as I got inside, I opened the package. My sister and brother-in-law had sent me a Cape Cod Ukulele Club shirt. I was thrilled. Their thoughtfulness gave me the biggest boost, gave me joy. Serendipity! Also, in the mail was my coffee. This month’s coffee, a medium roast, is from Peru, from the San Ignacio region, a mountainous region. I’m excited to try it.

When I was a kid, I drank cocoa every morning. I remember the top of the cocoa in the cup had small bubbles from my mother stirring it into the hot milk. The cocoa was thick and silky, at least that’s how my tongue remembers it. I always yummed after the first sip. I remember the cocoa container had a slot on the top. The slot was for coins. The container became a bank after the cocoa was finished. I remember my money always smelled like cocoa.

I love the taste of cinnamon. When I was a kid, I’d sometimes sprinkle cinnamon sugar on my cereal. For a nickel I could buy the cinnamon flavored Life Saver roll. Every Christmas I got the Life Saver’s book in my stocking. The first roll I’d eat was always the cinnamon followed by the root beer roll. My sister sent me cinnamon lollipops from See’s Candy one year. After the first lick, I was addicted. I bought a couple of boxes more. I got more for Christmas. I bought more. Finally I called a halt. I got a See’s catalogue the other day. I’m afraid to look through it. I have no resistance.

This week I get to join the world. I haven’t left my house since last Sunday though I did have two visitors, my friend Mary Allen and my nephew Tim. Both of them brought light. Tim shoveled me out, cleared the back stairs for Henry and brought hot food and coffee. He took trash. Mary Allen brought me the vegetables for my sausage dinner. She brought already made spaghetti and meatballs and Italian bread. She brought cream. The best thing she bought was what looked like a giant eclair. It had layers from the bottom up: dough, custard, cream and the dough top covered in chocolate. My hands were covered in cream and chocolate. I felt like a little kid, a contented little kid.

This entry was posted on March 1, 2026 at 2:06 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.