The sun is bright, and the day is pretty, but it’s chilly. It will be in the low 50’s today and down to the 30’s tonight, but that seems just about right for this time of year. More of the oak leaves have turned yellow. The deck plants have died, victims of the cold nights. I brought in the two lavender plants. They would have survived, but I wanted their sweet smell inside to remind me of summer.

Henry made it to the vets yesterday to have his nails trimmed. Getting him to the car wasn’t easy. I had opened the door before hand, but he wouldn’t jump in so I had to lift him and then shut the door quickly before he escaped. In the parking lot at the vets I had to grab him before he took off after I’d opened the door. He shook while we waited so I kept patting him and trying to reassure him. I had to walk with him to an exam room so they could take him out back. When they brought him out, he had his halter on and a Red Sox bandana. The tech with him kept patting and talking to him. He seemed fine and getting him into the car was easy. He made it going and coming without any accidents in the car. The trip was a success.

When I was a kid, our dog Duke wandered all over town. There were no leash laws back then. One time he followed my grandmother into Woolworth’s and lifted his leg on the comics. She denied knowing him. He followed me to school several times. I didn’t try to stop him though my father did. He’d jump into the car and chase Duke down, but Duke would never get in the car. He made my father furious. My mother used to try to tempt him back inside. She’d call him and wave a piece of bologna. He’d run up to her and eat the bologna except for a small piece he’d leave her holding. Duke was cagey.

The sun has disappeared and clouds have taken its place. My pretty day is gone, and I figure it will get colder without the light. I was going to go out and about, but outside isn’t all that enticing anymore. I wanted the sun in my eyes.

The day is warm and sunny. It rained earlier so everything is still wet. I went out on the deck for a bit to take in the day. The deck is littered with leaves. Lots of birds are dining.

The Sox did it. They won the World Series last night. It was spectacular. I stayed up late to watch all the post game festivities especially the uncorking and spraying of all those bottles of champagne. The Sox deserved the celebration. They won the series 4 games to 1. Now I need to shop for some World Series gear.

I feel lazy today. Yesterday I dusted a bit and vacuumed. That’s the most housework I’ve done in weeks, maybe even longer. I need to reward myself.

When I was a kid, I remember my father always left early and worked late. At the time he worked for J. P. Manning as a salesman. My father was a great salesman. Later he’d change jobs and become a manager for Hood Ice Cream. He’d change jobs one more time and run a company as first vice president. The president was retired. My father loved work but loved retirement more. On warm days, he’d sit on the front steps with his coffee and his paper. He’d usually wear his white t-shirt and his blue shorts. He knew everyone in the neighborhood. When I’d visit with my dog, my father would move to the backyard so Shauna could be with him. He loved that dog, and she loved him.

I’m going out when I finish here. I am going to try to take Henry with me as he needs his nailed clipped. I’ll open the car doors first then try to corner him to get him on a leash. It will not be easy. Henry runs when he sees a collar or a leash. I’m going to block his escape route from the couch. Wish me luck.

We survived the nor’easter. The ground and deck are littered with oak leaves, many of them yellow. The front lawn is pine needle territory. The street is still wet. The sun is in and out. I’m hoping it will stay in, but I’m skeptical.

When I was a kid, Sunday was a boring day this time of year. Church was in the morning and Sunday dinner was in the afternoon. Sometimes we’d go visit my grandparents. My grandmother, my mother and any aunts who were there stayed in the kitchen seated around the table. They’d chat. The stove always had a pot of hot pasta in tomato sauce. The table had a chunk of cheese and a grater. My father and my uncles stayed upstairs in the living room to watch football games. My cousins and I used to play in the yard or on the street. I loved East Boston where my grandparents lived. On many corners there were small stores. The one near my grandparents had a woman behind the counter. She was always sitting in a chair with her elbows on the counter. I had a dime to spend, compliments of my grandfather. We’d leave to go home in the early evening. Sometimes I fell asleep in the car. I knew we were close to home when I saw the house with a huge horseshoe over the garage. That house and horseshoe are still there. I checked.

I have nothing on my to do list for today. The laundry needs to be leaning against the cellar door before it makes me guilty enough to pay it any attention. The trash is high but it’ll keep. I’m going to read the rest of my papers, go through the catalogs I got yesterday and maybe even nap. I was up until three after the Sox won last night. Tonight is the last game in LA. I hope it is the last game of all. Go Sox!

Rain dashing against the window and the whistle of the wind are the first sounds I heard when I woke up. It was after 10. I had watched the World Series last night, and the game lasted until the wee hours of the morning so ten wasn’t really sleeping late. That game is the new record holder for the longest game in time and innings. It took eighteen innings, two full games, until it was over. The Sox lost, but it was a great game.

All of these late baseball games are taking a toll. I am walking through the day like a phantom. I am perpetually exhausted. I dare not nap as that would further disrupt my sleep. This series has to end soon.

Today’s storm is a nor’easter. Tree limbs are bending and swaying in the wind. Leaves are falling. The deck is covered with them. I saw a cardinal underneath a deck chair trying to stay out of the rain. The goldfinches are more intent on eating and are crowded at the two thistle feeders. I watched one sunflower feeder swaying back and forth. I could see tail feathers hanging below the feeder. They belonged to a bluejay, one of the first I’ve seen in the yard.

Last night my friends came to dinner. It was a birthday dinner for all three of us even though our birthdays were a couple of months ago. I enjoy having friends over for dinner. I get to choose a menu and try new dishes. Last night we started with a pumpkin dip and cheese and crackers. The dip was delicious. Dinner was seafood. I don’t make it often enough. We had a casserole with fish, shrimp and scallops with crab cakes as a side. The dinner was easy to make, and it was delicious. I have leftovers for tonight.

I voted yesterday.

Yesterday was really cold. I went out to fill the bird feeders, and by the time I was finished, my hands were freezing. In the afternoon my guy came and shut down my outside shower and drained the irrigation system. Winter isn’t here yet, but he is nearing.

When I was a kid, I’d walk to school when there was still frost on the grass. I used to cut across the field at the bottom of my street, and I could hear the cracking of the frost as I walked. Sometimes that field would have a crust of snow which melted during the day and froze again at night so walking on it also made a cracking sound, and cracks appeared from where I walked and zigzagged across the top of the snow as if the field was falling apart. Sometimes the crust broke. The snow underneath was soft and fluffy.

I find it a bit strange that some foods I ate when I was young I’d never eat now. Sardines come to mind. I remember having to use a key to roll open the can. The sardines inside were lined up in two rows, across and below. I’d grab some and eat them on Saltines. I used to make a mayonnaise sandwich. That was it, nothing else between the slices of bread. I liked liverwurst sandwiches with mustard. I can’t imagine eating one now. My mother made oatmeal for us in the winter. It was thick and sometimes lumpy. I used to add milk and cinnamon to make it palatable. I don’t think I’ve had oatmeal since then. I ate Jello in all its wiggly glory. I remember the gyrations of the red Jello when I shook the plate. That’s another food I haven’t eaten in decades.

Africa expanded my palate. I ate foods I didn’t know existed like hummus and tabouli. I ate goat and grasscutter. I ate my first Indian food. I loved kelewele, a dish made with plantains. Mangoes and pawpaw were brand new fruits to me. At first I thought mangoes tasted a bit like furniture polish must, but I came to like it. I ate Guinea fowl. I ate banku and kenkey and didn’t like either one.

I still enjoy trying new foods. What it looks like doesn’t matter. I’m all for the taste.

The baseball game ended earlier than usual, but when the Red Sox win, I watch the after game analysis on NESN. That program just ended. The Sox have won the first 2 games of the World Series, both at home, but now they head to LA where it was close to 90˚ yesterday. At game time tonight, it was 48˚. Many of the Dodgers were wearing face warmers. What babies!

It rained on and off all day today. Sometimes it was heavy rain. I’m forgetting how the sun looks and how it feels on my arms and face. The prediction is for rain on Saturday. I’ll stay home and hunker down.

Henry barks and that starts the zombie. Henry barks again at the sound and the zombie moans. It is a vicious circle.

When I was a kid, the car I was in was stopped by a police officer because I had barked out the window. My brother had set me up. The officer had shot a dog, but I didn’t know that. He stopped the car and wanted to know who barked. I told him. I got a huge lecture about respecting police. I never barked out the window again. I had repented.

When I visited my parents, my father went out early every Sunday morning to get donuts. He never remembered my favorite donut, butternut; instead, he used to buy old-fashioned donuts better know as plain as well as glazed and jelly donuts. His favorite was the plain. He always slathered it with butter.

I like coconut, the way it tastes and the way it smells. Last week when I was shopping in Hyannis, I bought a Bounty candy bar, not something I usually find. It is coconut covered in milk chocolate and it comes in two pieces. After I had eaten it, I was sorry I’d only bought one bar.

I like figs and dates. I hate olives. I also hate just about any sort of bean. The exception is green beans, but I don’t think of them as beans. I find kidney beans the most disgusting.

What a surprise, today is cloudy. The prediction is sun, but the clouds have won out for now. I, however, see bright sun and flowers. I think I’m living a scene out of Cinderella complete with bluebirds. The World Series starts tonight.

Today is a stay at home day. I have no errands. I finished them yesterday. I have only the bird feeders to fill and the bed to change.

I woke up at five this morning. It was dark. When I was still working, I got up at five every morning. In those days I was a mole, not a sloth.

When I was kid, I wasn’t afraid of anything. Spiders were no problem. I loved watching them in their webs. I followed slithering garden snakes in the grass. Once I watched a praying mantis for the longest time. I had never seen its like before. When I was at the pool, I dived off the board even though I was nine or ten. I hit bottom once and chipped my tooth and cut my lip. The lifeguard took me home. It was a while before I used the diving board again. My father used to try to scare us by scratching at the screen. My bravado rose to the fore, and I asked who was there. I don’t think I wanted an answer.

When I was in Ghana, the first thing which delighted me was seeing lizards. They seemed symbolic of Africa to me, of the Africa I imagined. I remembered being at our training site in Winneba and seeing the brightly colored lizards scampering all over the grounds.

My house in Bolga had scorpions. I remember one of my students borrowing my sandal to kill one in my living room. Her sandal was left outside, but my sandal enough. It proved lethal. That scorpion was flattened. I saw poisonous snakes but not too closely. I did see a centipede. It was amazing.

I always wonder why people scream at and run away from spiders. It always seems silly to me.

This morning the Globe was filled with the most interesting articles so it took me a couple of hours to finish reading. I learned rats have become suburbanites. They are appearing in towns outside of Boston. My first and only encounter with a rat was in Boston. I was waiting to work a water station for the marathon. Because I was early, I was having coffee in a well known bakery/coffee shop. I was the only one there. A big rat sauntered across the floor by my table. Luckily it kept going I have no idea where. I yelled at the guy behind the counter. He saw the rat but seemed unconcerned. He offered me free coffee all day.

The weather has been cold but at least we have sun so the day is pretty. I have some errands later so I’m be out enjoying that sun.

Life has been quiet for me the last few weeks. I haven’t been anywhere, and I haven’t spent time with anybody. I talk to Henry, but I think I’m glad he doesn’t answer. I suspect he’d be a bit annoying and a little pushy.

When I was a kid, the house was always filled with us. We shared bedrooms, two of us in each one and my parents in the third. The kitchen table didn’t hold all six of us at once, but that worked out okay though as my father was never home early enough from work for dinner, and my mother always stood and ate at the counter. Our living room had a couch and a comfy chair. If we all watched TV at once, my father always took the chair. In my mind’s eye I can also see him sitting there reading the paper. That was about it for rooms except we also had a cellar. It was where we played mostly on rainy or freezing days. I used to pretend to ride a horse while I was sitting on the end of the stairway bannister. I also used to go down there to read and to be myself.

I live by myself and have since I bought this house. I could do a Mad Hatter and move from room to room, but I tend to spend most of my time in the den. I get the comfy chair.

The raindrops were constant. I heard them as soon as I woke up. It was early for me so I was hoping to go back to sleep, but Henry was up and about and noticed my hand was out of the covers. He licked it. He knew I was awake. That was it. He jumped on the bed and gave me his exuberant morning greeting. I got out of bed and went downstairs.

The rain is going stay around for most of the day. Of course it will. I have to go to the dump.

Hyannis is always a daunting destination. I don’t like the traffic, but I bit the bullet and went anyway. The god of parking was with me, and I found spots close to the stores, all three of them. It took two trips to bring the bags into the house.

When I was a kid, my mother usually grocery shopped on Friday nights. We loved Friday nights. My mother bought goodies like cookies and Hostess cupcakes and chips. We went after them right away. She always warned us that once they were gone they were gone for good. They went quickly.

My mother always bought Oreos. They went quickly because Oreos were our favorite cookies. We all had preferred techniques for eating them. My sisters separated the two sides. They’d eat the side with the cream and feed the other side to the dog. I sometimes separated the sides as well, but I didn’t share with the dog. The Oreos were too valuable to share given their short shelf life in our house. Other times I’d keep the cookies whole and dip them in milk. The cookie part got a little soft from the milk. I loved them that way.

Pieces of my childhood have stayed with me. The biggest piece is Christmas, but my memory drawers hold so much more especially those Oreos and all the foods my mother made. I have favorites: mashed potato icing on the meatloaf, fried dough on meatless Fridays, my mother’s squash dish at special dinners and lemon meringue pie at Thanksgiving. My mother gave us all so much, but I bet she never realized the importance of the gift of even a mere meatloaf.

Last night was cold. This morning isn’t much better despite the sun. The furnace is blasting so I’m comfy. That’s all that counts.

My Red Sox are going to the World Series. They beat the Astros and Verlander last night 4-1 which is also how the series went. The Sox lost the first game but won the next four, three of them in Houston. David Price pitched a gem of a game. I was excited and jumped up to cheer. It woke Henry.

When I was a kid, boys played baseball and girls played softball. My brother was on a farm team, and I’d sometimes go to his practices with him. I remember we were at the East School field when my brother’s coach asked me if I wanted to play as he was down a couple of players. I was thrilled. I don’t remember what base I played, but I do remember hitting. I hit a double, a single and a triple, one short of the cycle. The coach was amazed that a girl could hit so well. I wasn’t offended. Those were the days of girls doing girly things and boys doing what boys do and never the twain shall meet.

My cleaning couple came yesterday. They loved my Halloween creatures all of which are now in the living room including the one which scared Henry. My favorite creature is the ghoulish one. His eyes flash and his head moves back and forth, but the best part is creepy music plays, and he moans in the eeriest way. Vibration triggers all of the sounds and the head movements. I wish I could explain that to Henry. He runs and all of a sudden the music starts and the creature moans. Henry barks until the moaning stops.

My laundry is done, the bird feeders are filled, my house is clean, the plants are watered and the trash is in the car. I have no lists. I am at sea.