My house was cold this morning. I decided to put on my sweatshirt and turn on the heat. I made a new pot of coffee and toasted an onion bagel then slattered cream cheese on it. I am happy, warm and content.

Today will be rainy. Yesterday too was rainy. The high will be 55°. It is a good day to stay close to hearth and home. I’ll stay in my cozies. I have some plants I’ve been rooting which need to be potted. I have a book to read. Maybe I’ll even sneak in a nap.

When I came downstairs this morning, I found a stick on the mat by the door. I also found a couple of pine cones, one chewed. Nala had been collecting again.

I used to love to watch Creature Double Feature on Saturdays on channel 56. That is when I started to love classic horror movies like Dracula, Frankenstein and the mummy, Japanese monsters like Rodan and Godzilla and all those wonderful black and white science fiction movies. Even now, if I notice they are on, I’ll watch. I have a wonderful collection of 50’s sci-fi. Some of the plots are silly, but they are the best parts, a crawling hand, a man with two heads, meteorite shards which petrify people and one of my favorites, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, a scientist keeps the head of his girlfriend alive after she is decapitated in a car accident. She is not happy to say the least. One of my favorite lines, “I’ll give her a brain and a heart.” All he is missing is courage. I’m now watching Asteroid Down The Hunt for Hidden Aliens.

Many theme songs from TV programs occupy several of my memory drawers. I even remember the theme from The Real McCoys, and I was quite young when that was on. How about, “Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen. Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men.” I could sing the rest but I figure this is enough. I remember the opening of Robin Hood with its dramatic music and the sound of the arrow hitting the tree. Superman’s opening had words. We found out he was able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and was faster than a speeding bullet. I still have trouble believing the Lone Ranger’s theme is really The Willian Tell Overture.

The other day I needed to put my date of birth on a website. I scrolled so long through the years my hand got tired.

Life is good. I can walk without moaning on every step. My dogs have stopped cocking their heads and looking sympathetic when I moan. They ignore me again. The morning is lovely with not a single cloud and the deepest blue sky. The sun brightens every corner. Nothing is moving in the stillest air. We’ll get to 59° today. I have a concert this afternoon. The music is The Beach Boys, fun music or should I say Fun, Fun, Fun (No groaning. I’m injured).

The first album I ever bought was Peter, Paul and Mary. I found folk music before I found rock and roll. They are neck and neck but folk has a slight edge. I remember going to a coffee house. It was in Boston in basically a cellar. It was dark. People wore black so they sort of disappeared. I sat in the back. I don’t remember who sang. I do remember it was folk music. Joni, PP&M and Simon and Garfunkel made the trip to Ghana. I had to rewind the cassettes by hand because of the heat and the humidity. Bic pens were the perfect tools. CSN&N also came. One of my friends gave me the soundtrack to Easy Rider. His mother had sent it to him but he didn’t have a cassette player. Her lapse was my good fortune.

The only concerts I have attended have been mostly folk singers. I’ve seen Lightfoot, PP&M a few times, Judy Collins a couple of times, Nanci Griffith a couple of times just after I discovered Other Voices, Other Rooms, James Taylor, The Kingston Trio and Odetta. There are probably more, but it has been a while. I remember Roy Orbison and America. I can’t dredge any others, but I’m sure there are more rock concerts as well. I have a record player, a repro of an old one. I love playing my albums.

I remember my first transistor radio. It was a Christmas gift. The cover was brown leather with sound holes in the front. The radio was part of the cover. It wasn’t huge, but it was big. I was thrilled. AM radio stations were prime. WMEX was king. We all listened to Arnie Woo Woo Ginsburg’s Night Train Show. WCOP was the second station where we heard rock and roll. I used to sneak my radio under the covers so I could listen to music. One Christmas a few years later I got another radio, a small one you could hold in your hand. I remember the dial and the front of the radio. I had that radio for years.

I listen to mostly oldies, soft rock, stations in my car with the exception of WOMR in Provincetown, an eclectic station I really enjoy. Every now and then I drift over to an AM station for weather and traffic but mostly my dial stays on FM. My taste has expanded over time. I love Ghanaian High Life which was popular when I lived there. I have a few High Life albums.

Learning to play a musical instrument has been one of the high points of my life. Now I play concerts. Who would have thought?