I love mornings in fall. Today is just perfect. The air is sweet. We have a breeze. The sun glints through trees and highlights the fluttering leaves. It is already in the 60’s.

As for the days of the week, Saturday is the busiest day. It is errand day. People are out and about early. I even went to Dunkin this morning and waited in a long line for my coffee and my treat, a pumpkin donut, in keeping with the season of course.

When I was a kid, my biggest dilemma was what should I buy with my pennies, valuable currency back then. I’d stand in front of the penny candy display and lean on the glass. Should I go for taste or longevity? Green Mint Julep and Banana Split squares had both as did Mary Janes and Bit O’ Honey. Tootsie Rolls were chewy. Fire Balls were a challenge. You had to keep them in your mouth despite the heat. Eating Bull’s Eyes always had a technique. Eat the caramel first and the white cream last. Eating Candy Buttons always included eating a bit of paper. Wax Bottles were a great buy. You bit off the top, sucked out the syrup then chewed the wax. The adult me finds that a bit gross. A Pixie Stix was a straw filled with colored powder which was mostly sugar. You bit off the top and poured the power into your mouth. I remember how dry it was and how it stuck to my teeth. The only favorites I had were the two for a penny candies.

The dogs are upstairs napping on my bed. Jack too is sleeping. The house is quiet.

<!– wp:paragraph As for the days of the week, Saturday is the busiest day. It is errand day. People are out and about early. I even went to Dunkin and waited in a long line for my coffee and my treat, a pumpkin donut, in keeping with the season of course. Sunday is the most boring of the week. When I was a kid, Sunday was quiet, a stay around the house day. It is still that way for me. Mostly I just read the paper and loll. I stay home. Monday has always been the dismal day of the week. I’d have to get up for school, never easy after two days of sleeping in. I begrudged every minute of the morning. When I worked, I was up at 5:15. I hated 5:15, especially Mondays at 5:15. The rest of the days of the week were just sort of jumbled together. Friday was the only stand out.

Oh! What a beautiful morning, a perfect fall morning. The sun is bright. The sky is blue and cloudless. It is in the low 50’s, a chill leftover from last night, but it will get warmer, even shirt sleeve warm.

When I was a kid, I often ate oatmeal on cold mornings. My mother was insulating us for the walk to school. She always added sugar and milk to the oatmeal. Sugar makes everything tasty, even lumpy oatmeal. I can’t remember the last time I had oatmeal. I know it is now instant and has no lumps. Too bad, I always thought lumps gave oatmeal personality.

When I was in Ghana, I loved the mornings. Even in the dry, hottest time of the year, the early mornings were comfortable. I had two eggs and two pieces of toast every morning for breakfast. The eggs were fried in groundnut, peanut, oil and were delicious. My stove seldom had gas so meals were cooked over a small, round charcoal burner. The bread leaned against the hot part of the stove for toasting. In Accra, I had bought a giant stein like mug for coffee. I had a cup before breakfast and one during breakfast. I’d have one more cup at the end of my first couple of classes. I used to sit on my small front porch to drink the first cup. I’d greet the kids cutting across school grounds to the elementary school just outside my school’s gates. They’d stop, salute and say, “Good morning, sir. How are you?” They were learning English and had started with memorizing greetings. I lived on the school compound so after breakfast I’d walk from my house to the classroom block. That walk never felt commonplace.

Yesterday I brought my flamingo inside the house off the deck. It is a fall ritual. The flamingo has several outfits. She is now decked in a black robe with a purple lining and a witch’s cap with pumpkins on it and hanging bright lime hair now draped around her head and beak. She is ready for Halloween.