My heat came on this morning. Last night got down to the mid 30’s. Right now it is in the mid-40’s. This same weather pattern is predicted for the next few days.

It is a pretty morning. The sun is bright and glints through the trees. The sky is deep blue. The air is still. The only clouds are puffy and white. What I find surprising is the prediction for this afternoon, rain. I expect more clouds, grey clouds.

I have favorites memories. Some of them date back to when I was a kid. I think of winter and flying down the snowy hill on my sled and of summer and flying down that same hill but on my bike. I loved all the Christmas preparations, the Advent calendar, the tree in the corner ready to be decorated, sugar cookies, the Sears wish book and the house windows with lit candles breaking through the winter darkness. I loved summer and a Sunday at the beach where my mother’s peppers and eggs were my favorite beach food.

I remember my very first plane ride. It was Hyannis to Boston on an old prop plane. It was a gift in my Easter basket. On the plane, you could see the pilots and the walkway to the seats went up hill. We flew over the coast and the ocean. It was a spectacular ride.

In Ghana, I made a memory every day. Every morning felt new. I woke up to the crowing of roosters. I loved my students and my school. I ate food I’d never of before Ghana. I traveled West Africa and felt comfortable. I remember my friends and I landed at the airport in Ouagadougou very late at night, no taxis available. We slept on benches. In the morning when I woke up, I saw the cleaners waiting with their mops and brooms until we woke up. They didn’t want to disturb us. My favorite memory is of the night soil man. I was sitting in the outhouse when I heard a noise below me. I stood up. A face appeared in the hole. He greeted me, “Hello, madam,” then grabbed the bucket to empty it.

I’ve ridden in a glider, a hot air balloon, a helicopter, a mammy lorry, a train in the Andes, a boat across Lake Titicaca and another boat on a three day trip on the Paraná River where only one other person spoke English. I stood on the Equator. I saw a cathedral in a salt mine. I rode a camel in the Sahara. One of my funniest memories was in Niamey, Niger. My friends and I got separated. I found a hotel. It turned out to be a brothel. I heard footsteps all night and knocking on doors. I didn’t sleep at all.

I have more memories, but this musing is long enough.

This entry was posted on April 20, 2026 at 12:32 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.