The morning is dark, breezy and chilly. Rain is predicted. The dogs aren’t anxious to be out in the yard. One is upstairs on the bed, and the other is asleep on the couch. The label of dumb animals doesn’t apply here.

When I was a kid, I thought my world was huge. I could wander all over, anywhere I wanted. I had favorite places in town. I used to stop at the horse barn behind the town hall. Around the corner was the ragman’s house. Its porch was tilting from the weight of all the papers stored on it. The tracks weren’t far from there. I always thought of them as a shortcut. When I walked the tracks, I’d sometimes walk on the rail. I’d use my arms to help my balance. They didn’t help much. Usually, I wandered alone. My neighborhood friends and I walked to school together, but they weren’t roamers. I wanted to see everything.

My mother was a master at ground beef. My favorite was always her meatloaf. I also liked her ground beef in gravy over mashed potatoes. We didn’t have it often, but I liked her Chinese dinner. It was Chinese because it had water chestnuts and bean sprouts with the ground beef. She’d make it in her electric frying pan on the counter. It was topped with chow mein noodles. All we needed were chop sticks.

On cold days, my mother sometimes gave us soup in our thermoses for lunch. Mostly it was chicken noodle, the universal soup for kids. She’d include Saltines, and she always remembered to add the spoon. The rest of lunch was a half sandwich and dessert. I remember there was a skill in pouring the soup into the thermos top, into the cup. A plop of the meat meant a splash landing on the desk or sometimes on my blouse.

Today I have a concert, the second one of the week. Right now I am watching Attack of the Crab Monsters from 1957. I love these old black and white science fiction movies. In this, the navy is checking to see if radioactive dust did anything to the plants and animals. They have a surprise coming.

When I woke up, I saw a bit of blue and a glint of sunlight. When next I looked, both were gone. Clouds had filled the spaces. Clouds will be the weather today and for the next few days. We might even have some rain. The sun isn’t predicted to return until Friday. I guess we all hoped too hard when we wished for rain.

When I went to get the paper this morning, the air smelled sweet. Some flowers are still in bloom. I could hear the birds. Nobody was around, no dog walkers or carriage pushers. It was quiet.

There are so many birds in and out of the feeders they have to take a number and get in line. While my coffee was brewing, I watched from the kitchen window. I saw chickadees, nuthatches, titmice and Mrs. Cardinal. I’m glad I bought a bag of sunflower seeds yesterday. I also bought a mum and a pumpkin, ‘tis the season.

My storm doors are heavy, and it is time to haul them up from the cellar. I go slowly, step by step. The harder part is getting them in the door frames. When I was a kid, the house l lived in had wooden doors and wooden window frames. The storm windows were taken off every summer and put back in the late fall. The windows hung on hooks. When my father changed the windows, we all watched. He’d climb a tall ladder to each second floor window. He’d carry the window with him when he climbed. I remember how frustrated he’d get leaning against the house for balance while trying to hook the windows. It was an all day affair.

My play clothes this time of year were mostly flannel shirts and dungarees, girls’ dungarees with the zipper in the front pocket. I wore sneakers all year. I added socks in the fall and winter. Sometimes the socks had no elastic left at the top. They’d slide into my shoes. I walked on lumps.

When I’d get home from school, one of my favorite snacks was peanut butter or just plain butter on Saltines. Afterwards, I’d head out on my bike if the weather was pleasant enough. I never went far. The afternoons were too short.

I haven’t yet decided if I want to be busy. The house does need to be vacuumed. Henry hair is in clumps everywhere. Spiders’ webs stretch between even the smallest spaces. I saw one across the inside of a cup handle. My other option is the sloth option. I always favor that one. I’m thinking the only things I really need to do are to take a shower and go to uke practice tonight. I figure I can handle both of those.