The air is crisp. Last night was cold. The morning sun is glinting through the trees and highlighting the thick branches of the oak trees, the ones by the deck. Nothing is moving. It is quiet. Even the leaves at the end of the branches are still. Everything is pretty in the sunlight.

The house is clean. The backyard is escape proof. The front lawn and deck are clear of leaves and debris. Fallen trunks from small, dead trees were hauled out of the backyard now made ready for winter.

The weather forecast is for a passing shower this afternoon. We’ll be in the 50’s today and the rest of the week. The nights will drop to the 40’s. Fall is giving way to colder days and nights.

When I was a kid, I resisted as long as I could, but as the mornings grew colder, my mother insisted I wear a sweater under my jacket on the walk to school.

I loved the first morning I could see my breath. The air was clean, clear. The sunlight was sharp but not so warm anymore. My footsteps echoed on the sidewalk. Fallen leaves filled the gutters. Fall was disappearing before my very eyes.

When we got home from school, we had to change into our play clothes. Back then, my wardrobe was divided into school clothes, play clothes and church clothes. My school clothes were a blue skirt, white blouse and a blue tie, our school uniform. My church clothes were a dress or skirt and a blouse. My play clothes were seasonal. In the warmer seasons I wore shorts, a sleeveless blouse and sneakers. When it got cold, I’d wear my dungarees, girly dungarees with a zipper in the side pocket, and long sleeve shirts. My favorites were flannel shirts, still are.

On school days, breakfasts changed with the seasons. On the warmer days it was cereal, dry cereal with milk, and on the colder days it was sometimes oatmeal with butter and brown sugar or eggs, mostly soft-boiled eggs in yellow chicken egg cups. I remember the breakfast table. A teapot filled with hot water sat in the middle. That was for the tea drinkers. I was a cocoa drinker. My mother made that cup by cup. I remember there were bubbles on the top of the cocoa. Once a while, we’d just have toast and our hot drink of choice. I remember the toast buttered then covered in cinnamon. That was a treat.

In Ghana my breakfasts didn’t change for the whole two years. I ate two eggs cooked in groundnut oil (peanut oil), two pieces of toast and a couple of mugs of instant coffee, the only coffee sold. I loved the fresh bread and the taste of those eggs. I never tired of that breakfast.

A cacophony is the only way to describe this morning. My housecleaner is here, and she is vacuuming upstairs. Nala is barking at the vacuum, and Henry is barking at my cleaning lady. She is unruffled. In my yard, branches are being piled, the back fence is getting fixed, the deck has been cleaned, the front fence is upright again, and the lawn has been cleaned of debris and leaves. I heard the blowers, the saws and the trucks. Henry barked, no surprise there. I got a headache, no surprise there either.

Today is lovely with lots of sun and a blue sky. It is 59˚ but the high will be over 60˚. This is a perfect fall day on Cape Cod.

My dance card is empty today. I haven’t any errands or chores, except the laundry, but I still have clean clothes so the laundry can wait. I did throw the filled pillow case down the cellar stairs in hopes of out of sight, out of mind. My yard is finished, and the dogs have been out running and attacking each other. The front yard is cleared of leaves and debris. I can see the driveway and deck now. I’m happy.

Last night I had more kids trick or treating at my house then I’ve ever had. Almost all the M&Ms are gone. The Hershey bars weren’t touched except I did treat myself to another bar last night. I’m thinking of putting the M&Ms in my little library. I have to go out to the library anyway to tighten the latch, take books away and add books so I might as well offer the M&Ms. A cozy corner, a good book and M&Ms seems like a great way to while away the afternoon.

On Halloween night, my mother used to give each of us a large bowl for our candy. We’d sit on the living room floor and pick over the pile. We’d take out any we didn’t want, especially the candy corn, and toss that pile away. We’d trade bars. We’d eat candy during the proceedings. At the end of the night, when I went upstairs to bed, I’d carry my heavy bowl and put it under my bed, an easily accessible spot for nighttime chocolate.

The last Halloween treat was we always had the next day off from school, All Saint’s Day. We did have to go to mass which put a crimp in the day, but I hid candy in my pockets and sat in the back so I could munch during mass, probably some sort of a sin unidentified in my catechism.

The morning is warm. The weather prediction said morning showers then sun. I think I slept through the showers because I can see sun and blue sky. Last night it rained, at times a heavy rain. I went out on the deck a couple of times to keep an eye on Nala, the escape artist. I just hope the branch keeping the fence upright will force Nala to stay in the yard.

When I was a kid, it never got dark early enough on Halloween. We’d try to go out in the late afternoon, but my mother stopped us, “Too early,” she aways said. We had to eat supper first. That made me unhappy for a couple of reasons. The first was I was still home with an empty pillowcase, and the second was I didn’t want to fill up on food. I wanted candy. I wanted to munch as I roamed.

We went all over town. The red house on Main Street, the one with the porch, was a nickel bar stop. I still think of that when I drive by the house. It is now a business of sorts, but it looks the same. We didn’t have the miniature bars back then so candy was often wrapped in a napkin twirled at the top. We also got apples. My favorite apples had a few pennies even the big jackpot, a nickel, pushed to the apple through the peel. I never ate the apples. Fruit on Halloween was wrong, so very wrong. Popcorn was also wrapped in a napkin sometimes with candy corn in the mix. I never liked candy corn, too grossly sweet.

My mother put the costumes together. She also did the make-up. I was a bum a couple of years. I wore tattered clothes and black make-up as if I had a beard. I carried a stick with a bundle at the end. My mask was just the mask to cover my eyes, a usually black mask. It had an elastic connected on both sides of the mask. The elastic often broke away from the mask. I’d have to make a couple of small holes to hold the elastic. Those masks never lasted beyond one Halloween.

I bought Hersey’s candy bars in case my Amazon candy didn’t come in time. That was a mistake. I’ve already eaten two bars.

Amazon came through this morning. I am giving out the regular size M&M’s. The Hershey bars are at the bottom of the plastic blue pumpkin holding the candy. I don’t expect to get down to the bottom of the pumpkin. All those Hershey bars will be mine, all mine!!!

Rains and wind are predicted for today. It rained earlier and stopped but scattered showers are predicted for the afternoon. The high will be 62˚. The sky is a dark grey. There is an occasional blast of wind which moves even the top most branches.

My neighbor from the next street behind my house came to tell me Nala had been running in his yard. By then she was back in the house. I went to the backyard to check. Two sections of the fence are leaning and not connected. A huge branch from a pine tree hit the fence exactly between those two sections. The hole between them is big enough for Nala. I did what I could, but the fence sections are far too heavy for me to lift back into place so I propped a branch hoping for the best. Another section further down is not connected but is still upright. I tried to block the hole. I’m thinking I need to take Nala into the yard on a leash. I called my friend and landscaper. He can’t come today. My factotum, Skip, does not answer his phone. I’m stuck with a downed fence.

Yesterday the world was out and about. Everywhere was busy. I went to the dump though it wasn’t on the list. I figured what the heck. After that I got my first shingles shot. My arm hurts if I lift it. I was warned that on the second day it would hurt. She called it a thick vaccine.

When I was a kid, I had all the childhood ailments. I remember chicken pox the most because it itched. My mother put mittens on my hands so I wouldn’t scratch and get scars. Our neighbor, an adult, got it and scratched. I remember the scars on her face. When I got the measles, my bedroom was kept dark so I wouldn’t go blind. I had to lie there and do nothing. I couldn’t even read. When I had the mumps, my face felt lumpy and strange. I kept looking in the mirror.

My viewing pleasure for today and tomorrow will be classic monster movies. I am not a fan of slash and bleed. I find Dracula scary enough when they highlight his eyes. One of my favorite black and white movies is Them, about the giant ants. What is strange is when the name Them first appears on the screen, it is red and squiggly. There is no color in the rest of the movie.

I remember when the The Exorcist was released. A bunch of us went to Boston to see it. The line snaked around the corner. It was worth the wait.

I’m back finally. The lights went on last night. The house was down to the 50’s by yesterday afternoon. I snuggled under the down comforter and read under the blankets. My friends invited me to dinner, a hot meal!! When I got home, the lights were on, and the house was warm.

The storm on Tuesday night was horrific, the worst storm I’ve ever see. Branches hit the windows, and a thud from somewhere got the dogs’ attention. The wind never stopped. It got as high as 83 mph. It wasn’t just a freight train. It was several freight trains roaring down the tracks. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I asked Alexa the time, and she didn’t answer. I knew the electricity was off, and it wasn’t an Alexa huff. I checked the stove clock and saw the electricity had gone off at 2:10 am. 

Gwen had to be at the vet’s by nine, and on the ride, I got to see the damage. Limbs were down all over. I saw the two foot remnant of a telephone pole sticking out of the ground. A hanging yellow light was lying twisted on the road. Up the street a large pine tree sits on the hood of a car. Electric trucks from all over were working on restoring power. I even saw a truck from North Carolina.

The only lights working were near me so I got coffee but not until 3 when the crowds died down.

Part of my fence is down as is my mailbox. Except for a few weird pockets of light the cape had no electricity. I was Diogenes walking around with my Coleman lantern looking for an honest man or an electrician. On my deck, my covered furniture, four chairs, a table and an umbrella, were blown halfway across the deck. The yard and deck are covered in wet leaves and small branches. One of my neighbors lost three trees in her back yard. Two other neighbors lost fence sections.

The good news is about Gwen. Though her numbers are still up, she did not lose any weight so the vet said we are getting close to the right insulin dosage. I had to up the dosage starting last night. I was told it was okay to add some of her old food with the diabetic food. I had already been mixing the two so I was glad to hear that. Gwen does eat some it. I told the vet I give her a few treats so I can sneak in her shot. The vet said it was okay. I’m sure Gwen would be relieved to know that. 

Today is cloudy and dark. It is in the 50’s. Rain is predicted for tomorrow. Strangely enough, after all the blustering, everything is still. The leaves at the ends of the branches are barely moving. They stir once and a while in the bit of a breeze. Many of the oak trees have bare branches. Before the storm, the oak tree by the deck had some bright yellow leaves. They are now brown and shriveled.

It is no longer fall and not yet winter. We are in between seasons, in a season of wind and rain.

The storm last night was tremendous with thunder and lightning which seemed to last forever. Henry stayed close. Nala slept through most of the thunder except for a couple of boomers which cracked by the den window. The cats were quiet. I liked the storm.

With the nor’easter coming mostly tonight, we are already under a wind advisory. Gusts could get as high as 70 mph. The rainfall could be around 3 inches or more. Right now it is dark but not yet raining. The air is fairly warm at 64˚. The wind is gusting. Leaves are falling. Already, the oak branches are bare.

Last night I was entertained by watching the Halloween episodes of old shows. I laughed through Cheers and Frasier, especially Frasier. I was never good at guessing who his callers were. I had to read the list in the credits.

I’m going out today to do a bit of grocery shopping. I need milk and bananas for my cereal. I also need a bit of chocolate. I’m thinking a Milky Way.

When I was a kid, I always dunked my Graham crackers in my cocoa. I knew exactly when to pull the cracker out of the cocoa before it sort of dissolved into the cup. It was a remarkable feat.

Saltines were my go to snack cracker. I’d butter them or sometimes I’d use peanut butter instead. I don’t know how I did it, but I used to eat sardines out of the tin on Saltines. The ideas of it now makes me gag a bit. My father loved sardines, and he was the one who introduced me to them.

My father loved to fish for smelt which ran in the winter. He and my uncle who owned a fish market would go out in their small boat together. My father would keep some of the fish and give my uncle the rest to sell. When he got home, my father cleaned the fish, meaning he took off their heads and removed their entrails, and my mother cooked them. First she coated the fish in flour then she fried them in oil. I really liked smelt.

Friday suppers were my favorites. We couldn’t eat meat back then, but I didn’t care. My mother’s Friday night suppers were renowned. I remember the fish sticks and fries. I used to open the oven to sneak a peek and steal a French fry if nobody was looking. Fried dough was one of my favorites. My mother would buy frozen dough, and once it was defrosted, she’d stretch pieces of the dough and cook it in her cast iron frying pan. We all stood by the counter waiting. We used to put butter and salt on the fried dough. I remember the butter sometimes puddled in the little troughs, the uneven spots on the dough. We devoured every piece of that dough.

My kitchen floor is covered in muddy dog prints. It has been raining since late last night. The forecast is for rain today and the next three days. My floor will disappear under the mud.

My house was cold again this morning, down to 64˚. Coupled with that, I didn’t sleep well last night. Nala took so much of my side of the bed my feet kept falling off the mattress and waking me up. I moved her, not an easy task, but she moved back. My feet fell off again. I got out of bed and moved her to the other side of the mattress. She fell asleep and so did I.

Henry has a couple of new tricks. He scratches the den rug then stares at me. I asked if Timmy was in the well, and he scratched the rug again then went to the hall and looked back at me. I followed him. The dog door wasn’t on the magnet. It was a bit scrunched so Henry wouldn’t go through to go outside. I was going to straighten it, but Nala went through and the door was straightened so Henry went out. The second trick is when he wants into the bedroom. He scratches the barricade twice. That paw of his is getting to be annoying.

When I was a kid, our dog Duke, a boxer, and his son Sam, my aunt’s dog, used to travel together. Sam lived about three blocks away. Sam smiled. I’m not kidding. He had a broad grin. He was a silly, lovable dog. Duke was his protector. I remember my father getting a phone call from a neighbor. Both dogs were in her front yard and wouldn’t move. She was afraid to leave the house, but the dogs weren’t interested in her but her female dog in heat. My father had to go get them. Sam was a big boxer but not so good in a fight. Duke would watch then step in to save Sam. Both dogs were notorious.

We got our first cat when I was a junior in high school. My father hated cats and wanted it gone before he got home for the weekend. At that time he had been transferred to Maine and only came home on the weekends. We were waiting for the end of the school year to move. We kept the kitten. My father wasn’t happy, but that kitten knew what to do. He snuggled on my father’s neck to get warm. He fell asleep. My father was smitten. After that my parents always had cats.

The morning is cold. Even the cats’ fur is cold. It is 48˚. The heat is on and so is my sweatshirt. Outside is a pretty day with sun and blue skies, but only 59˚ will be the high. I could go to the dump, but I can wait until Wednesday. The trunk has only a couple of bags of used cat litter.

Jack is venturing closer and closer to downstairs. He stays about midway down and meows for pats and scratches, but that alerts Nala who chases him up the stairs. She cries at the gate to the cats’ room. Gwen is not eating her special food. I worry. She goes in for the same tests this week as she had last week. I get a shingles shot this week.

Nala brought in a semi-deflated basketball she found in the yard. It used to be Gracie’s. I never heard Nala bring it through the dog door. She also brought in pine branches but a small pine branches. She loves to chew. I never think to watch her come in through the dog. I’m just glad she does.

When I was a kid, the future was tomorrow except during holiday season. We counted down the days until Halloween then the days until Christmas. Thanksgiving was in the middle, but it never rated a countdown.

I loved twilight in October even though it meant early street lights. The late afternoons got chilly. We were inside early usually doing homework then watching TV. My mother was in the kitchen making dinner. My father seldom made it home from work by dinner time. I remember him coming in the front door wearing his black overcoat and his grey fedora. He always wore a suit and tie to work. My father used a Windsor knot for his tie.

For meals, the four of us sat at the kitchen table. My mother ate standing up at the counter. The kitchen table just fit its space, a small space in the back of the kitchen, and it just fit the four of us. Dinner was always meat, potatoes and a veggie. My favorite dinner was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas with niblet corn a close second. Before she put the meat in the oven, my mother spread ketchup on top then added bacon. I used to try to steal the crisp bacon. Dessert was usually cookies, Oreos or chocolate chip. After dinner we watched TV, usually westerns.

Weeknights, except for Friday, meant early to bed. My mother would say it’s a school night as if we didn’t know. I swear she always said with a smile on her face.

The morning is partly sunny but cooler than it has been. The high will only be 60˚. It’s a stay at home and enjoy doing nothing day. Yesterday I potted the succulents, made my bed and vacuumed the hall and kitchen. I felt accomplished again. Sadly, though, the laundry still haunts me.

Last night the white lights on my fence were not lit. That used to happen often when the spawns ate the wires. I went out to check and none were eaten. I then noticed the extension cord was missing. Immediately I knew who took it. That would be the marauder Nala. Why I have no idea. I guess it is like mountain climbing, because it was there. I looked and saw the cord on the driveway below my deck. It was intact so I connected the lights.

I am watching classic horror movies. First it was The Mummy’s Ghost from 1944 and now Werewolf of London from 1935. I have a whole day of black and white horror movies to watch, and I have plenty of popcorn.

When I was a kid, Saturday was the best day. In the winter I went to the matinee. The rest of the year I explored all over town on foot or on my bike. Riding my bike gave me free range. Walking led me to trails and my favorite, the railroad tracks.

The train ran when I was young. My grandparents’ house was down the road from the tracks. I used to stand on their front steps to watch the train. The terminus for the railroad was a shortish walk from my house and just beyond the station, built in 1895 which still stands on its original spot. Across the street from the station were four or five tracks side by side, just ending and heading nowhere. I used the tracks as shortcuts. I remember a clear stream flowing from a grassy hill where I’d stop to take a drink. We always jumped the double OO railroad ties to protect my mother’s back. I never rode on that train. In my lifetime it didn’t carry passengers, only freight. All of that is gone now except for the station at the terminus and the station master’s house up the street from my grandparents where the tracks used to be.

The only train I ever rode when I was growing up was the subway out of Sullivan Square. In Ghana I rode the train usually from Accra to Kumasi or down the coast toward Takoradi. I loved that train. First class was right out of Agatha Christie. There were comfy leather chairs and doors to shut for a bit of privacy. Think Harry Potter’s train to Hogwarts. In Europe I often rode trains. My favorite was the train from Helsinki to Leningrad. At the border between the two countries, the passenger car I was in was attached to a Russian train. My friend and I and an African studying in Russia were the only passengers in that car. There was a burly attendant who plied us with tea.

If I were rich, I would take the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express as far as I could. That would be the ultimate train ride.

The morning is a delight, alternating between warm and sunny and partly cloudy. The high today will be over 70˚. The breeze is every now and then, a strong breeze which whips the leaves back and forth. The oak leaves in my backyard have started to turn reddish brown. The deck is covered in leaves, and Nala has added sticks chewed at the top and missing their bark. Yesterday I found some torn cardboard on the deck, compliments of Nala the destroyer.

Henry has been barking willy-nilly. He barks at people walking by, vehicles stopped on the street and ghosts only he can hear. Nala seldom barks. The last time she did it was at me. I don’t know what I did to offend her.

My dance card is empty until Tuesday. I will be the consummate sloth. Yesterday I did all my errands: got gas, went to the dump, had the car’s oiled changed, tires inflated, filters replaced and new wipers put on. My last errand of the day was a routine blood test. When I got home, I changed my bed and put on the new spread I bought months ago. All in all, I felt accomplished.

The few chores left on that long to do list are potting the succulents I bought and doing the laundry. That last one is my bugaboo. I always figure if I have clothes left I don’t need to do laundry.

This morning, when I went to give Gwen her shot, she had already gone under a bed to sleep, but she tricked me. She was under the other bed. I had to move everything to get her. It wasn’t easy. I have to remember to go to her first thing before I go downstairs, but this morning Nala was whining so I figured she needed out. She did. That gave Gwen the opportunity to elude me.

When I was a kid, I loved to collect the fall leaves. My favorites were the bright yellows and the deep reds. We’d put the most beautiful, the most brightly colored, in wax paper, iron the paper and save the leaves.

I remember walking to school and shuffling on the sidewalk covered with fallen leaves. We’d make a path which would have disappeared by the time we walked home. Sometimes we’d walk in the gutter and kick the leaves. The only drawback was from time to time the leaves on the bottom were soaking wet and clinging together.

Right now my house is absolutely quiet. The sun has returned. I have a cup of fresh coffee. This is heaven.