The rain has finally gone and been replaced by sun and blue sky. It is in the low 70’s, perfect weather though there is still a chance of rain but much later. I don’t have an errand but I have one chore, to grocery shop from the comfort of my couch. I have a list.

My mother always grocery shopped on Friday nights. She didn’t drive so my father dropped her at the supermarket, and he waited. We loved Friday nights. The larder was filled with cold cuts, cheese and, best of all, cookies, especially Oreos. They went fast. During the school year, my mother declared some cookies hands off so she could pack them in our lunches. During the summer, no cookies were safe. Sometimes I would pack a lunch if I was roaming for the day. I’d make a bologna sandwich with mustard and hot peppers. The sandwich was never symmetrical. It had lumps, an odd cut of the bologna and the hot peppers cut in half. I’d pack cookies for dessert. I’d put the bag in my bike’s basket and hold on to it over bumps so it wouldn’t fall out of the basket. When I’d get hungry, I’d find a shady spot where I could sit and eat. The town hall had benches beside it under leafy trees. That was the best spot.

The town hall always felt cool inside even on a hot summer’s day back when there was no air conditioning. It was dark in places, especially the stairs where there were no windows. When walking on the stairs, footsteps echoed. My mother and I went there to get my birth certificate as I needed it for my Peace Corps passport. We went to the bottom floor, the darkest floor, sort of the cellar. The lady quickly gave me my official birth certificate. I still have that copy of my birth certificate. It is yellow with age and the official stamp has lost its luster and its bumps. It has become an historical document.

The summer is quickly passing, today being the last of July. When I was a kid, I knew school days were getting closer so it was almost time to school shop. Every year we got new shoes, a new pencil case, a lunch box and a school bag. Because we wore uniforms, we didn’t get a choice of clothes. We tried on last year’s uniform clothes, a blue skirt and a white blouse, to see if they fit. If they did, we were done.

This entry was posted on July 31, 2026 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.