The rain has finally disappeared. Today is as perfect a summer day as anyone can imagine. It is 71°. The high will only be 75°, and tonight will get down to the 50’s. The bright sun is framed by a beautiful blue sky. The breeze is strong. The branches sway. The leaves turn over, left and right. The house is still cool from last night. The dogs are sleeping. All is right with my world.

Henry is skeptical of me. He comes inside reluctantly. He suspects I might spray his yeast infection or rub anti-itch on the outside of his eyes which are red from his allergy. I hide pain pills in his food. He only gets them once a day now, in the late afternoon, when his limp is still a bit pronounced after he sort of runs around all day. Poor Henry!

When I was nearly twelve, my friend invited me to a Red Sox game. Her sister worked for the Sox. It was a night game, a magical game. In my excitement, I tripped on the front steps when I was running to the car, and I sprained my ankle. I didn’t care. I was not going to miss that game. I limped all the rest of the evening. We got to Fenway in time for batting practice. I remember walking out from the concourse to the field. The lights were so bright it was like mid-day, and the grass was as green as any grass I’d ever seen. I caught a ball. My friend’s sister took it to get signed. I had that ball for the longest time. I don’t know what happened to it. We had great seats. I was enthralled. We ate hot dogs and peanuts. The peanut shells surrounded my feet. We sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame. That the Sox lost was, for me, no nevermind.

My memory drawers are filled with images. They are the way I remember best. When I close my eyes, I can see the memories. I remember walking to school across the field thinking it was a shortcut. I can still see the houses on the street. I passed them every school day for eight years. In my mind’s eye, when I drive through the square, I remember all the stores which were once uptown. The corner stores, the red store and the white store, neither of which was really on a corner, are still there in my memories. Walking into the red store, the first thing you saw was a display of Hostess products. In the white store, on the inside right was the penny candy display case. My mind’s eye is weirdly selective.

My dance card is empty until Monday’s concert. I have no lists. I have no must do chores. I have a book to read.

This entry was posted on July 23, 2026 at 1:32 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.