Last night my Hershey bars were a success. Kids showed off the big bars to their waiting parents, and my neighbor told me her daughter told other kids mine was the best house, but I had fewer trick or treaters than usual so I have candy bars still left. I suspect they won’t be left for long.

Today will be warm, 68°. Right now we have sun, but the clouds will be around later. It is quite windy. Everything is blowing. I have a uke concert today. We are playing songs from the 70’s.

Some of my memories drawers are so stuffed I can barely open them. The Ghana drawers are like that. When I was there, I knew I was living a singular experience so I saved the memories. I can still see them all in my mind’s eye, a little bit faded over time but still so vibrant compared to other memories.

In Ghana, my house was on school grounds as were the houses of other tutors as we were called. Mine was a duplex, the last house by the back fence. At night, students would often drop by to visit. Having a white teacher was a curiosity so they’d chat about everything and ask questions about my home and family. On one visit I told them about Halloween. They loved the idea of free candy. On Halloween night, they remembered and showed up at my house and said, “Trick or treat!” Luckily I had peppermint candy, a Ghanaian treat.

My town, the capital of the Upper Region in Ghana, was in the far northeast. It was in the hottest part of the country with a long dry season. Few fruits and vegetables grew there. The local tribe was the FraFras. Many of my students were local but it was a boarding school so they lived in dorms. Everyone in town knew who I was. I think there was only one other white woman. I loved going into town and shopping there on market day, every third day. I wandered all over and bought eggs, beef, garden eggs, tomatoes and onions. The sellers, mostly women, would dash me, give me, a few extra onions or tomatoes. I’d stop at shops and chop bars, sort of restaurants. Everyone greeted me and called me madam. I loved every day. I loved Ghana. I loved my school, my town and my students most of all.