The rain is coming. The wind is cooler and getting stronger. The clouds are dark. It is a storm coming from the south. The rug is on the floor to protect my newly washed and polished kitchen floor, but I may have to shut the door to keep the rain out. This is a lazy time of day for the dogs who are lying on each side of me on the couch and are napping. I always envy my dogs.

My dog Duke was never allowed on furniture. He knew the rule, but he also knew out to get around the rule. He’d stretch his body across the beds but keep his back paws on the floor. He slept on the couch at night, but he jumped off if he heard someone coming down the stairs in the morning. Duke never got caught.

When I was a kid, the closer we got to the end of school, the more effort it took to pay attention. We had end of the year exams, but nothing really depended on them. We had a longing for summer.

I used to ride my bike to school more as the year ended. I left my bike in the bike rack. It was wooden, painted green and under the trees on one side of the schoolyard. It had a slot for each bike. No one locked their bikes. They weren’t fancy bikes back then. They had no gears. They had pedals with back brakes. I remember biking through sand and jamming on my brakes to slide on purpose. We used to attach playing cards, sometimes bent in half, to the spokes with spring clothespins. The cards made a flapping sound, a rhythmic sound as the wheels spun. I lived on a hill, and it took me a while before I could pedal the whole way. I used to get so tired I would stand up hoping to get more distance. I remember how the pedals got heavier and heavier, but I also remember the joy of triumph when I finally made it all the way.

This entry was posted on June 18, 2026 at 12:47 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.