Mother Nature did it to us again. I followed the snow predictions. I went from channel to channel and kept asking my Alexa and my Goggle. They all predicted snow and a heavy wind. I kept opening the back door checking for flakes. I swear I saw a couple around 2 am. When I woke up today, I let the dogs out right away. They are always insistent. I was expecting to see a snow covered deck. Nope, we got no snow. All the complaining was wasted.

When I was a kid, my mother almost always made my lunch. My school didn’t have a cafeteria. The only things sold were milk and candy. I always bought the milk and once in a while the candy. The milk was delivered to the classroom in one of those milk crates. The candy bars came in a lunchbox and was delivered a bit before lunch.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had the infamous Sister Hildegard. My desk was close to the front of the room. Almost every day, I watched Sister Hildegard. It was entertainment. I watched her open the candy box, browse through the choices and take a couple of bars. She’d hide them in a desk drawer. After lunch, I sometimes could hear paper crumbling. I’d watch Sister Hildegard hide her mouth with her hand, put something in her mouth then start chewing. She was eating the candy from the chocolate stash she’d taken from the lunch box. I think she believed we didn’t know. We all did. I remember going up to her desk to show her something. When she answered, she spit nuts on my paper. She knew I saw the chewed nuts so she quickly sent me back to my desk, but it was too late.

The other Sister Hildegard moments, common moments, were when she nodded off at her desk while we were working. She’d sit upright with eyes closed. We’d watch and chuckle quietly. She’d sometimes open her eyes, blankly look around then go back to sleep. That was another of many Sister Hildegard moments.

This is a quiet week for me. I have a few house chores, my usual uke practice and lesson and nothing else. I’m okay with quiet, maybe I’ll nod off

The clouds have that white grey color, a warning, snow’s coming. The wind is getting stronger, and the day is getting darker. The good news is the prediction is for far less snow than first thought, only 1-3 inches. That’s broom snow. We are all warm and cozy. The dogs are napping. Nala is leaning against me, her head resting on my hip. She sighs every now and then. Henry is curled into a ball on his cushion. Jack is sleeping on an afghan in front of the heater in his room. All’s right with our world.

My larder is full. I had my groceries delivered yesterday. The Amazon pet order also came yesterday minus dry dog food. It should come today. The Chewy order will be here in a couple of days. My beasties live well.

The other day I had a Ghana Deja Vu. I had finished my first cup of coffee and let the cup sit a little while before I went to get my second cup. I added fake sugar and cream to the coffee, carried the cup to the den and sat down. When I went to drink, I saw two dead bugs, gnats I think, floating in the cup. Bugs in food were a common occurrence in Ghana. I used to have to sift my flour, loaded with bugs. Some remained and we didn’t care. They were protein. When I saw the bugs in my coffee, I just picked them out. Dead bugs are harmless.

When I was a kid, I hunted grasshoppers in the field below my house. They’d jump in the air when I walked through the grass. I’d catch them with my hands and put them in a jar. Later, I’d release them. I didn’t swat or run screaming from bees. I remember a praying mantis in the bushes by the front steps. I watched it for a long time. I had already seen its movie, The Deadly Mantis, starring a giant bug, 200-foot-long and millions of years old. That one would have scared me. I’d be the one running and screaming. I’d probably be the one eaten. I can’t run all that fast or far.

My dance card is mostly empty for the week. I have my uke practice and lesson and nothing else. I’m just fine with that. I do idleness well.