Today is a wonderful fall day. The sun is shining and highlighting the blue sky behind it. It is 56°, but it will get warmer as the day passes. The dogs love this weather. They stay outside playing and chasing each other coming in only to wag tails and hope for treats. They usually get one.

When I woke up this morning, the day felt right. The weather is perfect. I enjoyed an everything English muffin with cream cheese, and I drank delicious coffee from Honduras. My usual two cups became three. I am wearing my best cozies: a red hoodie, warm socks and flannel pants, actually Christmas pants with lobsters, whales and crabs celebrating the occasion. The crabs are wearing Santa hats. The lobsters are decorating with lights. The whales have candy canes. The pants are wonderfully warm.

My sister told about her dream last night. She and I were in Boston in what was a sketchy part of town where the old Trailway’s bus terminal used to be. We parked our cars and went into a subway station right there, a station which existed only in her dream. We didn’t take the subway train for an unknown reason so we decided to go back to our cars. I was wearing an expensive red coat which attracted two 20 something guys who started to follow me. My sister tried to warn me but couldn’t get it out of her mouth. That was when two guys started following her. She woke up then and was still trying to scream.

We both remembered that terminal. I used to to go there to get busses home to the cape from school. A great magic shop was around the corner. There was a western bar near it. I remember a wagon wheel. The terminal was a bit gross and often some homeless guy was sleeping on a chair. There was a restaurant and a newspaper kiosk inside the station. I told my sister a memory about that station which has always stayed with me. I was sitting inside smoking my cigarette when they called my bus. I put the butt in the sand of an ashtray and started to grab my stuff when a guy, a gross guy, came over. He took the butt out of the ashtray and lit it. What was worse was he must have been watching me. I grabbed my stuff and ran to the bus.

Hooray!! The pins are gone. I saw the surgeon at the ungodly hour of eight this morning when he pulled out the pins and checked my finger. Even though the finger is still swollen at the knuckle, and the stitches have yet to disappear he was pleased and said it looked better than he had expected. He was surprised I hadn’t started therapy yet so I expect that will happen next week. Road to recovery here I come!

My dance is empty for most of the week. I only need to take Henry to the vet’s. That will be the only day I wear outside clothes.

My grandmothers wore old lady clothes, the same as all other old ladies. They wore flowered dresses with buttons and fronts which showed little neck. Their shoes were heels, thick, short heels. Stockings were a part of every ensemble. On rainy days one of my grandmothers wore a plastic rain bonnet and covered her shoes in plastic boots with a button across the fronts to close them. In the house aprons covered their dresses, aprons with bibs. My mother never wore old lady clothes though when I was young she sometimes wore a house dress. I don’t remember when it happened, but only lady clothes went out of fashion. Now, old ladies wear whatever they want. I swear high tops and sweatshirts.

On the way home this morning I stopped to buy an apple and a blueberry pastry. I had the apple with coffee and was kind enough to share with the dogs. The crumbled paper was on the table after we had finished. Nala gave me a look then stole the paper and ran into the yard. I didn’t bother to chase the brazen dog. I’ll just do a yard clean-up later. Speaking of Nala, she had her well dog vet visit yesterday. Miss Nala now weighs in at 61 pounds. The vet thought she looked great, in perfect condition. She had a couple of shots and a blood draw. Her nails were also trimmed. The tech who brought her back to me said she is sweet, and I am lucky they gave her back to me. Henry goes next week.

When I was a kid, I always thought life was easy. I liked school. I didn’t like church but only once a week was bearable, and it was more bearable if I sneaked in a book to read. Saturday was my favorite day. I could pick from so many things to do. I loved the matinee at the movie theater uptown. I got not only a movie but also cartoons and a candy bar. In the winter I could ice skate until my feet hurt. In the summer I could go swimming at the pool for only a dime. My bike was always at the ready. Most times I skated and swam with friends, but I was usually by myself when I went bike riding. I liked it that way. I could wherever I wanted.

Today is another day of rest. I woke up so late it was almost tomorrow. Nala has her well dog visit. It was Henry’s day but with my finger still painful I’m taking the easier dog. Nala likes the car, and I have a few errands to which she will be glad to come.

Tomorrow at 8 I am supposed to see my surgeon. I have hope that the pins will be gone but not forgotten. The finger is still swollen around the knuckle bone, the once fractured knuckle bone, at least I hope once fractured. I’ll give you the update tomorrow.

Until then….

Yesterday was a lovely day with the temperature over 70°· Today too is a delight with a bright sun, a blue sky and a high of 68°. Yesterday I was out and about doing a couple of errands. Today I’m staying close to home. I have a few chores. The dogs are outside and have been for a while. They came in only to get their morning biscuits and coffee then went back outside. They are loving the day as much as I am.

When I was a kid, Halloween planning started early. We never bought costumes from Woolworths, but I do remember the costumes sold there and kids wearing them. The costumes had a similar look, were worn over clothes, tied in the back and had plastic masks which got hot and made you sweat. The masks were held to the head with a black elastic which broke easily. We wore costumes my mother put together through sometimes we also wore masks, Lone Ranger sort of masks. My mother was quite clever in using what was on hand to make costumes. We decided what we wanted to be, and she figured out what we needed. One year my sister was a ballet dancer wearing a tutu. That one, though, was an obvious choice. My sister took dancing lessons. Ghosts were the easiest needing only a white sheet and holes for eyes. I was a hobo one year. Another year I was an old lady. I wore my mother’s fur stole. We sometimes carried Halloween shopping bags while other years we used pillow slips, wistful thinking I suspect.

I have ordered my Halloween candy. I’ll be giving out Hershey bars, Reese’s and Kit Kats, all candy I like in case of leftovers. It seems every year I get more kids. They love the big bars, what we used to call nickel bars. I figure my house is probably marked in some way, the way hobos used to mark houses when they were looking for food or work. Last year I had only a few bars left, probably a good thing.

It is a damp, dark and cloudy day. Nothing is moving. The leaves just hang at the ends of the branches. It is warm at 68° which was a surprise when I went to get the paper. The dogs are mostly out though Henry does come inside to bark at the front door. I checked. Henry was barking at shadows. Henry is a great barker at shadows.

My dance card is empty until Friday when Henry has his well dog visit and gets his shots. Nala goes next week. I go on Saturday, not for shots but to the surgeon at the ungodly hour of eight. I am hoping he will take out the pins.

It was one of those mirror under the nose mornings. I was awake until close to four. The dogs were sleeping on the bed and taking most of the room though I did manage to find a spot and some covers before I turned off the light. I woke up once and pushed Nala out of the way and then fell back asleep. It was after eleven when I finally woke up to what was left of the morning. Now it is later, after two cups of coffee, two pieces of toast shared with the dogs and the paper.

I bought cans of pumpkin. I’m thinking pies or muffins for two of my neighbors. One always gives me cookies at Christmas so I thought I’d return the favor. The other was my life saver who took care of the dogs and cleaned the house after the bite when I was in the hospital. Now I just have to find the wherewithal.

When I was a kid, I loved being in my room reading on a rainy day. I’d snuggle into bed and read away the afternoon. The sound of the rain on the roof and windows was almost soothing. My room was quiet. My brother and sisters stayed downstairs to watch TV while my mother made dinner. She’d call when it was ready.

We’d watch TV after dinner. Back then westerns were all the hits. I still remember most of the theme songs. We’d sit in front of the TV until my mother announced bedtime and reminded us it was a school night, as if we’d ever forget. Once upstairs, I used to sneak and read when I was supposed to be asleep. Sometimes I got caught.

The rain continues. The damp has stilled the trees. My deck is covered in branches, red and yellow leaves and acorns from yesterday’s rain. Scattered thunderstorms are predicted for today. The high will be warmish, in the mid 60’s. I need to be out today. Jack needs food, and I need a few things. I’ll run between the raindrops.

I have favorite flavors. Cinnamon is one of them. I sometimes have cinnamon toast for breakfast, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is my new favorite. I even eat it as a snack. Vanilla is another flavor I love. Last year I made my own inspired by the homemade vanilla my sister gave me for Christmas a few years back. Hers packed a punch. The mints, spearmint and peppermint, are both on the list. Wintergreen chocolate patties are heavenly, and they are close to the top of my favorite flavors list.

The dogs are noisy. They run up and down the uncarpeted stairs and slide across the tile floor in the kitchen. They eat each other’s muzzles and growl. They go in and out the dog door which snaps behind them. Henry is the nosier animal. He barks at any movement of cars and people. He also barks at deliveries which is okay as he is the only way I know boxes are on the front steps. Nala sometimes makes noise as she tries to drag stolen items out the dog door. The other day it was a brown bag stolen from Jack’s room. It had empty cat food cans. When she heard me coming, she ran through the dog door without her booty.

One morning I was on my way to college, to Merrimack, and we were riding up Route 114. The road was, back then, underdeveloped in spots. We’d ride through stretches of trees on both sides of the road then they’d be some stores then more trees. The highway took us through Middleton and eventually to North Andover. At one spot that morning we saw police cars, both local and state. There were many of each. The police cars surrounded a car with open doors, and I thought I saw a body but maybe not as no one else in the car did. One or two days later, in the paper, was an article about the car and its dead occupants, two bullet riddled bodies. The speculation was they were the victims of the Boston mob and had been dumped there because it was remote. That incident remains my weirdest.

Today is dark, damp and chilly. Staying close to hearth and home is the best way to spend the day. Sunday is the day of rest, and I intend to comply. The dogs were late waking me up this morning. We all lasted until 10. The dogs are on the couch napping now, such is their lives. I have hidden the cat treats in the closet. If Nala gets them, she deserves them.

My finger is the best it has been since before the bite. The gauze fell off during the night but has been replaced with a nice fresh, white gauze. The finger is still ugly but less swollen. It hurts by the pins where the ache doesn’t disappear, but I figure those pins be gone next week when I see the surgeon.

When I moved to the cape, I was devastated. I was leaving my friends, my school and, most of all, my home, the place where I’d grown up, the place with all my memories. Most of my friends I’d known for the whole of my life. We had been together all the time, in school, and especially, at drill. I was headed to a place where I knew no one. I was going to public school for the first time in my life. I wasn’t excited. Actually, I hated it. I’d get back from school and toss my books. I’d stay in my bedroom. I went back home as many weekends as I could, but as the year went on, I went back less. I got involved with school clubs. I met all sort of new friends. I came out of my bedroom. I stopped throwing books.

When I was in Ghana, my family moved back to my home town, to a different house, not to mine. I had no connection to that house. I had no connection to that town any more. My friends and I had lost track of each other. After Peace Corps, I went home to the cape, and I have lived here since then, but I got lucky in my home town. I found my oldest friends, my oldest friends in time, not age, and we reconnected. We are still friends today many years later. It is as if there is no lost time between us. I am blessed.

This morning is another delight. The sun is brilliant, a squint your eyes brilliant. The blue sky is cloudless. A now and again breeze blows the leaves on the oak tree. It will in the mid 60’s today. I think I’ll go on the deck and close up the umbrellas and work toward the tables and chairs.

I have ambitions for today, but, of late, I seldom finish my lists of chores. I start out enthusiastically but peter out quickly. Yesterday I did reorganize the four drawers in the small bureau in the hall. That was on the list a few days ago. I found a few surprises like a whole set of antique place card holders of Chinese people, men and women with slits in their heads for the cards. I found beach pail place card holders and porcelain animals, also with slits in their heads. I’m thinking I need to do a dinner so I can use the Chinese holders. I’m already planning a menu in my head of all time favorites like muhammara. I haven’t made that in a while. Maybe I’ll just do a whole Moroccan meal. Oops, there I go again, starting out enthusiastically.

When I was a kid, I loved days like today for roaming all over town, sometimes on my bike but other times, the railroad track days, just walking. I knew all of the streets in every direction. Sometimes I rode into the next town like Reading, where the train station was, or Woburn with Horn Pond, or Wakefield with the lake and the teepee, or to Winchester just for the ride, or to Spot Pond where I’d plan to sneak in and swim but never did, and to my favorite stop, the Zoo. If I walked, I usually followed the tracks to the station or went uptown to the library and to window shops at all the stores. I’d bring my lunch knowing I’d be gone most of the day. I was mostly by myself.

My laundry is beginning to be a substantial pile. I’m almost ready to do a wash, but I don’t want to be rash.

I wake up every day at 9:30 no matter when I go to sleep. It is as if my body has been programmed. This morning I went downstairs at my usual time. The house was cold, down to 61°. I let the dogs out then, for a change, I went back to bed and slept two more hours. This morning quickly became this afternoon.

Yesterday I went to Agway as I needed creature food. They were having a sale on a variety of items. I bought two Christmas presents. I was pretty happy as I am behind my usual Christmas shopping time. My next stop was for chocolates, but I went to the shop next door first, a shop I love. It too was having a sale. I bought four Christmas presents, beautiful presents. I was tempted to keep one for myself but the rule is firm. I cannot take anything I first bought for someone else at Christmas time. I did buy myself some chocolates and some red licorice. Two days ago I ordered Hess trucks, three of them for my grand nephews: Jamison, Jaxon and Grayson, his first Hess truck. My Christmas shopping has now officially begun.

Today is cool, 58°. It is sunny, but the sun is just a backdrop giving light but no warmth. The breeze is strong. Branches are swaying. I can see the first changes of leaves in the backyard, some yellow leaves. The deck is covered in brown leaves, small branches and acorns. I have yet to close the deck. I need both hands for that.

When I was a kid, dressing for the walk to school this time of year was a conundrum. The mornings were cool, even cold, but the afternoons were warm. A winter coat was heavy. A spring jacket had no lining. My mother solved the problem by layering our clothes. She added a warm sweater beneath the jacket. She had us wear knee socks. I also had pink sort of longish underwear which went beneath my uniform skirt almost to my knees. The underwear was thermal. I was never cold on my walks to school.

I just did a trash check in the backyard. I found empty cat food cans from the trash in Jack’s room. I found the Temptations I had bought yesterday. The bags were empty. Nala did it again. I had put the treats up high, but she figured a way to get at them. I’m going to need a stepladder to put the food even higher, but I suspect Nala will find a way around that too. The strangest thing I found was a basketball. It was still filled with air so it hadn’t been there long. There is no way Nala had anything to do with it being in the yard. I figured it belongs to the kids down the street, but Henry’s barking kept them from going through the gate to get it. I threw it over the gate onto the driveway. I hope they find it.