Though the morning may be cloudy, it is warm and somewhat bright. It is actually 72°, for the first time this spring. I was out for a bit on the deck without my sweatshirt. It felt like a sort of seasonal freedom. 

When I was a kid, the future was a day away though I did keep track of how many days to the big events like Christmas, Halloween, my birthday and the end of school for the summer. I woke up every day, got dressed, ate breakfast, walked to school, sat at my desk for hours, walked home, changed out of school clothes and played until supper. I never thought my life was

repetitive. Every day seemed to bring something new. This time of year I watch the buds on the trees over the sidewalk turn into bright green leaves. I saw the shoots in gardens grow tall. I saw the buds appear. They were my favorites as soon enough yellow and white dafs bloomed and chased away drab winter. I sometimes skipped on the way to school. It felt joyful. 

I haven’t been back to my hometown for a long time. I haven’t been off cape. When I used to visit, I’d get off the exit where Spot Pond and the pool were. I liked to take Main Street all the way through the square. I never thought about it being called the square when I was growing up, but when I was older, I realized it was actually a square with a police box in the middle. We also used to call it up-town. Boston was in-town. I liked to remember what used to be there, in the square. Long gone are Woolworth’s and Grant’s, Hanks Bakery, the drug stores, the shoe factory, the small rectangular restaurant beside Finnegan’s Men’s Clothing Store, the shoemaker and the fish store. The 1978 movie The Brink’s Job filmed scenes in Stoneham Square as it still looked a if it had been caught in the 50’s. Stoneham burns brightly in my memories. 

My dance card has been empty of late, but I really don’t mind staying home as I have books and movies to keep me company. Today I have a uke concert, and I’ve been resting up for it. I’m ready.

The morning is lovely. It is already 61°. The sun is bright, the sky mostly blue. The dogs stay outside longer, even Henry. I think I might join them later.

Sometimes I think about the friends I had when I was a kid. One friend from my neighborhood and I walked to school together every day for most of grammar school. She lived up the hill in the house where we used to live. I remember she told me her aunt had died because she choked on a chicken bone. That has stayed with me. We went to separate high schools after grammar school. She went to the local high school while I went to a Catholic high school a couple of towns away. We didn’t see each other much after that. 

When I was in the fifth or sixth grade, I joined the drill team, the junior drill team. We had practice Saturday mornings in the armory. We learned all the steps, all the drills. Maria and I became friends, a friendship which continues today. She reminds me all the time of when we were fooling around, and I spun her, and she hit the floor. She got yelled at. I stood innocently. To yank her chain, even now I say it was her fault. It drives her crazy. She always says I got away with everything which also drives her crazy. 

When I was in Ghana, I lost track of most of my college friends. We wrote for a while, but then we didn’t. I was living a different life. Ghana had become my norm. I had good, good friends in Ghana. We met in Philadelphia during what Peace Corps calls staging. We trained together. After training they were posted down south almost a whole country away from me because my friend was pregnant. I visited them and we traveled together, the two of them, their baby and I. Now, we marvel at how well we stayed in touch. It was during the days before phones so we wrote each other. The mail took five days. They moved to my school our second year, all planned through the mail. We had the best time together. We still do.

I am lucky to have good friends, some of whom have been with me as far back as I can remember. Others are newer friends. After my accident, my uke friends fed me, checked on me and drove me where I needed to go. They still keep watch.