The morning is hot, in the high 70’s, and sunny. It is a quiet morning as are most Sunday mornings. The air is still. The dogs are napping. I’ve read the paper, had my coffee and even had some toast so I am ready to meet the day.

My house resembles Miss Havisham’s house. Spider webs are everywhere, even in the smallest places. Wherever I walk, I clear webs. Even my plants have webs from one frond to the other. This happens every late August, and it is annoying every late August. Baby spiders abound. I am part of the plot of Charlotte’s web. Perhaps I should watch Tarantula or Earth vs. The Spider.

Today is the only day this week with nothing scheduled. My sloth days have been few. I long for those days of doing nothing, not even getting dressed. Today I do have to clean a bit and pick up Nala’s trash in the yard. I saw a couple of dog food cans she stole from the bag of trash in the kitchen and some wrappers from snack size Snickers. I’ll grab my prisoner’s stick and a bag and hit the yard.

When I was in the eighth grade, I got interested in politics. John F. Kennedy, my senator, was running for president. Uptown was a storefront headquarters for Kennedy. I went and got buttons to wear to show my support. I watched the first Kennedy-Nixon debate. I remember how bad Nixon looked and that he seemed to need a shave. Kennedy looked perfect. The only memory I have of the actual debate is the controversy about Quemoy and Matsu. I remember a map with the islands circled. I still have my Kennedy pins.

When I was a kid, we often had barbecues on Saturday nights. I was a fan of hot dogs and cheeseburgers. The cheese was always yellow American cheese. The mustard for the hot dogs matched. My mother sometimes made potato salad and peppers and eggs. I always chose the peppers and eggs, but my mother did make a great potato salad. Watermelon was the best dessert.