Today is the prettiest day. It is warm and sunny at 73°. Days like today are the best of fall. Last night it rained. I didn’t know at first as the rain was quiet. It was Henry’s wet coat which had me check outside the back door. I turned on the light. The drops were so small I could barely see them. Later, though, the rain got heavy enough to be heard. That’s when I went to bed.

My reunion was great fun. I wandered and mingled. The years have been kind. I recognized so many of my classmates. We caught up a bit, 60 years of history. We ordered off the menu. I went with the iconic fish and chips. My meal was delicious. I even had a drink or two. It has been a long while since my last social event, since I last had to choose what to wear. I even polished my earrings. I was sort of dressed to the nines. It was quite the event.

When I was a kid, I had to wear a uniform to school and a dress or skirt to church. I didn’t complain. That was just the way it was. Even in college, I had to wear a skirt or dress. Mostly I wore skirts. In my second year, the rule was changed. It was the weather. The winter was especially cold. We never went back to the earlier dress code. In Ghana, I had to wear dresses. I brought skirts and dresses with me but mostly I had dresses made. My next door neighbor was my seamstress. All the dresses were made using Ghanaian cloth. When I went back to Ghana so many years later, I could wear pants, but I did bring a summer dress just in case. In Bolga, I bought cloth in the market and went to a seamstress to have a few blouses made. My students gave me a dress. All my new clothes were made with Ghanaian cloth. I even had a tablecloth and napkins sewn. I love using them to dress my table.

My dance card for the week is uke: practice, a lesson and one concert. A few chores are on my to do list. I need to clean upstairs. It has been neglected. That is on the top of the list. I have stuff needing to go down the cellar. They are leaning against the cellar door waiting. I haven’t taken them downstairs as I was afraid to tackle those stairs, but I think I can now. Famous last words!

The rain has given way to a delightful day. The sun is bright and warm at 77°. It is summer again. Nala was out for a long while and came back inside panting. Either it was zoomies or she was hunting a creature. She refuses to tell me. As for Henry, I have no idea where he is.

This is not the best of days. It is one of those one step forward and two steps back days. I feel discouraged. I know this will all disappear, but it gets difficult sometimes to remember that. I’ll be hanging around all day. I still have a couple of Hershey bars. Chocolate is my panacea.

When I was a kid, I survived all the kid diseases. I remember the bedroom was kept dark when I had the measles because it was thought light might make me lose my vision. I think I was in the dark for four or five days. Most families didn’t isolate one kid with measles or chicken pox or mumps. It was hoped that all the kids would catch whatever the one kid had. Chicken pox was the worst. First came a rash then itchy pimples. You didn’t scratch or you’d leave scars. My mother slathered us with Calamine lotion. She’d even put mittens on our hands so we couldn’t scratch. We all survived unscathed.

When I was a kid, phone booths were common. I’d never pass one without checking the coin return slot. Sometimes I’d even find a dime. When it rained, phone booths were a refuge. I’d close the folding door and wait. I remember in train stations and bus stations there were phone booths all in a line. You sat down in those booths. I remember the booths were brown.

I miss seeing my foot in the x-ray machine. I could see all the bones. The salesman always checked my feet before we bought shoes. He also used that slide measurer to see what size my feet were. We used to go to Thom Mcan’s. I always got new school shoes and new shoes for Easter. In the summer I wore sneakers.

My house could be the setting for a B movie. It is filled with cobwebs. The spiders are both huge and tiny. The webs go across book spines and kitchen utensils. They are on window frames and furniture and even on the stairs. I break up the webs when I see them, but I let the spiders go free.

Henry is now on the couch napping. He lives the good life.