Yesterday started out like any other day with coffee and the paper. I think I even had toast. I left to do a couple of errands. My last one was to buy a few groceries. I started for home. I saw a truck stopping on the road before turning. I didn’t see the car. It hit me. It was most decidedly my fault for not looking. I was shocked by the hit and sat there for a little bit to process. My car was totaled. The police and the fire department came then the EMT’s. It was quite a crowd. The EMT’s insisted I go to the hospital. I declined. Meanwhile, I started taking my uke book and my music stand out of the car. I took my groceries. My neighbor stopped and came over to me. She said she’d pick me up at the hospital. I went into the ambulance. I went to the emergency room.

At the hospital I was examined. The decision was for x-rays and a CT-scan. I was wheeled to both places and back again. It was quick. I sat in my room for a long while. It wasn’t quick. The doctor said there were no broken bones. I was in pain but only when I moved, talked or breathed. 

At home I moved as little as possible. My neighbor sent over dinner. She also sent cinnamon buns. Those I ate. Nala was upset. Her boxer eyes just stared then she licked me. She knew it was not a usual day. 

This morning, my hand is just a little less swollen. I still try not to move because it hurts. I had to cough a bit, and it hurt a lot. 

I should have known something would happen. I just bought two new tires. Yesterday was not a good day!

Winter is still heavy handed. The other night the water in my birdbath froze. It was in the low 30’s. Last night was only a tiny bit warmer. The days, though, are giving me a bit of hope, a hint of spring. They jump into the 40’s and feel warm if there is no wind. Right now it is 46°. The sun, with its deep blue background, is bright and magnificent, after all the rain. The vibrant yellow of the goldfinches at the thistle feeders cuts through the drab. There are so many of them they have to wait in line. I swear I saw one goldfinch take a number from the deli machine on a branch. 

When I was a kid, I knew I would travel. It was the only known. I made that vow to myself when I was eleven. The when and the where weren’t part of my vow. The idea of traveling was enough. 

Over my lifetime I have been surprised by experiences I never imagined. 

It is sixty-six years since my vow to travel. My young self would be amazed at where I’ve been. I still marvel that I lived in Africa, that it holds a special place in my heart. About Africa, I only knew what the geography books taught me. I could talk climate, capital cities, exports, rivers and mountains. I had so much to learn, so much to experience, and I took in everything I could. Ghana became a comfortable place. I think my eleven year old self would have thought that remarkable.

I can play a musical instrument. I thought my debut with the triangle in the second grade would be it. I saw no symphony hall in my future. I saw no ukulele in my future. I didn’t even know what a ukulele was. Big Brother Bob Emery played the uke on his TV show when he sang The Grass is Always Greener, his theme song. I thought it was a guitar. When I decided I wanted to play a musical instrument, the uke came to mind. I thought it might be easier than the guitar. It only has four strings. I still don’t see Symphony Hall in my future, but it doesn’t matter. I love my uke.

When I was growing up, I never did laundry, make a bed or cook. I was just fine with that. During college I had to figure out how to work the washing machine. I seldom made my bed. Cooking was out of a can. Dinty Moore’s beef stew was a favorite. I loved chicken noodle soup. In Ghana, I never did laundry. I always found someone to pay to do it, by hand as there were no machines. Ironing was a necessity. It was a charcoal iron. I didn’t do that either. I didn’t cook. I had no stove, only a small charcoal burner, a sort of forerunner for the hibachi but round. I cook and bake now. I’ll try to make anything, nothing phases me. That was a surprise. I still seldom make my bed. My washing machine died so I have my clothes washed at the laundry. Some habits don’t change.