Today is spring in all its glory. It is already 63° and will get warmer. The sun is glint your eyes strong. The sky is a light blue. A slight breeze is swaying the small branches and the dead oak leaves. It is a day to bring a smile.

Yesterday I got a rental. I am mobile again. Three of my errands were crossed off the list. This week I have uke practice, my lesson and three concerts. I’m glad for the car.

When I was a kid, this was my favorite time of year. The winter clothes were gone, no more layers. The mornings were warmer, and the air smelled sweet. Gardens bloomed with early flowers like the dafs. Their bright colors pushed away the gray of winter. I was so glad for the bright yellow. The afternoons were longer. The street lights came on later. I remember going inside to watch my afternoon TV programs while I waited for supper. I remember The Mickey Mouse Club. It was how I learned to spell ENCYCLOPEDIA, thanks to Jiminy Cricket. Even now, if I spell it, my voice is sing songy. We always had mashed potatoes, a vegetable and maybe ground beef or chicken. I loved meat loaves. I loved when my mother frosted them with mashed potatoes. Peas and corn were my favorite vegetables. I only tolerated carrots. I ate green beans but didn’t like them much. They always seemed squishy. 

When I was young, I was never into girly clothes. I was into comfort even back then. During the colder weather, I wore dungarees, girls’ dungarees. In the winter they were lined. I also wore flannel shirts and long sleeved blouses. Sweatshirts didn’t have hoods. I always wore sneakers, Keds. I had to wear uniforms to school, mostly skirts and blouses. Even in college I had to wear skirts until the winter of my sophomore year. It was so cold they allowed us to wear pants. That was the end of skirts and dresses. In Ghana I had to wear dresses, but I didn’t mind. I had my seamstress make my dresses with Ghanaian cloth. They were beautiful. On my trips back, I wore pants as did many Ghanaian women. I did miss the women dressed in traditional clothing made with local fabrics.

My yard needs a clean-up from Nala’s trash. I’ll use my prisoner’s stick. The bird feeders need filling. It is a good day for outside work. 

When I woke up, the sun was shining and the sky was a deep blue, but my Alexa predicted rain. I was skeptical. Now, the sky is mostly cloudy, and the sun is in and out. The wind has begun to blow. The rain will come tonight. 

Since the car’s tragic ending, I haven’t done much. I did go to uke practice as my friend Holly picked me up, and I went to the Friday concert, again picked up by a friend. I am tired of being homebound after two weeks so I’m hoping to get my rental tomorrow. I just need a ride to Hyannis. Now, where is that bike tire pump?

When I was a kid, my bike never got a flat tire, but sometimes the chain slipped off the sprocket. When it did, my pedals spun, my feet slipped, and I’d hit the bike bars. I’d get off my bike fix it. It sometimes took a while. My hands would get all greasy. I’d shout in triumph if I got the chain back on. A few times, though, I had to walk my bike home with the chain dragging. It always seemed a long way.

My father loved fried Spam sandwiches. My sister still likes Spam. I never have, but I did love fried bologna sandwiches. My mother bought bologna in a roll. I’d cut it into slices. Some of the slices were thin while others were thick on one side and thin on the other. I didn’t mind. I always used yellow mustard. I remember the thick bologna would sometimes make a hole in the center of the sandwich causing it to sort of collapse. It was an ugly sandwich, still tasted all right though.

Henry is moldy. The fur on his haunches is shedding in clumps. I can see his lighter fur underneath his winter fur coat. He hates me to scratch his fur and hates even more being brushed. Henry has strong dislikes.

When I was in grammar school, I walked the tracks, usually the same set of tracks. I’d jump over the double oo ties so I wouldn’t break my mother’s back. The end of those tracks was at a turnabout. I remember a train car was on one side track standing by itself, on the track across from the box factory and near to the brick railroad station. I never found the other end of the tracks though I walked a long distance. I followed those tracks passed a corner store, the station master’s house and further on, until I lost sight of any houses then I’d turn back. I am still curious as to where those tracks ended.