The morning is so very pretty. The sun is brilliant. Only the leaves on the tallest trees are moving. A bit of last night’s chill is still in the air. The birds are in and out at the feeders. I stood at the deck rail, and the nuthatches flew right beside me to the big feeder. The dogs roamed the backyard but came back inside with me. It is their morning nap time.

During the summer, when I was a kid, the rules were few. I could stay out late, even when it started to get dark. Breakfast and lunch were catch as catch can. Supper was the only meal we all ate together. I was usually gone all day, but my mother never worried. Nobody worried back then. If she asked where I was going, I’d just say out as I seldom had a destination. I went everywhere on my bike. I watched the trains come and go the next town over. I biked to the zoo. At Weiss farm, I’d check out the cows. They used to walk the same way every time from the barn to the field. Their route was muddy and filled with hoof prints. They walked slowly. I’d either ride through the square or walk my bike on the sidewalk. The square always had shoppers. It was usually late afternoon before I’d get home. I was always tired.

My house needs cleaning, especially my kitchen floor. Also, as always, Henry’s hair is in dustballs which take to flight when I walk by them. My bed needs changing. The tables need to be polished; however, there is a problem with this list. I just don’t want to clean. I want those shoemaker’s elves to surprise me and clean while I’m sleeping.

My larder is near empty. I have some eggs, half a cucumber and some chicken in the freezer. I need a quick grocery store stop. If nothing else, I’ll buy bread, cream and some treats for Jack.

I have a concert today. We are playing songs from the 70’s. This week has been a busy uke week: concert on Sunday, practice on Tuesday, lesson and concert on Wednesday and today’s concert. Next week will also be busy and will include Monday’s concert in Hyannis, the last Monday concert of the season. The summer is almost wound down.

The weather is perfect. The daytime high will be 74° while the nighttime will get down to the high 50’s. Such a day as today screams fall though I know summer is still hanging in the wings.

My friends have taken care of me. Elaine gave me individual creamers. I enjoyed my coffee this morning and so did the dogs. Henry did not turn his nose up and, instead, lapped up his treat. Jan gave me Snickers. I can’t keep my hands off them.

When I let the dogs out, yes, I was the one, a chipmunk scurried cross the deck by the back door and sort of hopped down the stairs. The dogs hadn’t been on the deck so he was anticipating. It is the first chipmunk I’ve seen, but there are holes in the front lawn.

When I was a kid, I loved seeing animals sort of in the wild. That included the spawns of Satan. Chipmunks were a bit of a rarity. I always thought they were cute. Once in a while, while we were taking a Sunday drive, a family adventure when I was growing up, we’d see deer in a field. We’d all scream for my father to stop so we could watch them. We were always excited to see deer. My father used to take his time. Sunday drives were not meant for speed. We’d ride on backroads going and usually the highway riding back. Sometimes we’d stop for ice cream cones. I was a fan of sugar cones with two scoops of different ice creams.

We used to go to East Boston to visit my grandparents, part of the ride was on Route 1 through Saugus. I loved that ride. The sides of the highway were filled with stores like Zayre’s and Child World. There were restaurants like Adventure Car Hop. I loved the orange dinosaur by the miniature golf course. One of the places which always caught my eye was Kiddie Ranch, a small amusement park off the road behind a store. I could see some of the rides. I always begged my father to stop. He never did. Once, we were going for a ride on Route 1. My brother and I had words so my father said that was enough, and he turned around at the rotary and headed home. We begged him to keep going and vowed we’d be good, but my father didn’t change his mind. All of a sudden he got off the highway, went behind the store and stopped at Kiddie Ranch. He had had to turn around to get there. That was one of the biggest surprises in my life back then.