Mother Nature has generously given us another summer’s day. It is already 75° with a bright sun and a few light clouds. We have a breeze. The weatherman says rain tonight.

When I was in the first grade, I had a stern nun, Sister Redempta. She scared all of us not only by her manner but also by her habit, all that black. On the Lone Ranger, bad guys wore black hats. We could see only her face and hands. She wore a rosary around her waist which made noise when she walked. When she spoke, we listened. None of us dared to speak out of turn. She’d have us fold our hands together in the middle of the desk. That was like calling us to attention. We used to have to stand up to talk, to answer questions. It was always, “Yes, sister. No, sister.” I think army basic training must be similar. We even wore uniforms though ours in the first grade were a bit different. Our skirts had over the shoulder straps. I still have my first grade school picture. I’m smiling. What is striking about it are my teeth. The two front teeth go in different directions. I’d get braces in second grade and in that school picture I’m not smiling. I’m hiding my braces. They weren’t so common back then. Luckily, metal mouth hadn’t yet hit playground taunting.

When I was a kid, I never liked tomatoes. I liked tomato soup and spaghetti sauce but not raw tomatoes, especially the hard ones from the grocery store. In Ghana onions and tomatoes were plentiful in the market. I didn’t eat them raw then either. They were sauce, almost a stew, in which the tough beef cooked for a long time to soften. I never ate a tomato in a sandwich. My subs were tomato less, lots of onions and hot peppers, but no tomatoes. I’d take them out of a burger from Carroll’s. I don’t know when my tastes changed. I’d add them to sandwiches and stopped picking them out of salads. Homegrown tomatoes are the stuff of legends. Small tables in front of houses by August are filled with tomatoes for sale. I keep small bills and change in the car so I can stop and buy them. A BLT toasted and slathered with mayo is a taste of heaven.

The morning is fairly quiet. Only Henry is noisy. He’s been barking. I have stopped checking why. Nala is spread out on the couch beside me. I do hear birds and occasionally a car. I have a concert this afternoon. I also need bread and cat food. I’ll join the world for just a little while.

This entry was posted on September 17, 2026 at 12:28 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.