Keep the Coffee Comimg

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.

Today is sunny, a lovely day. It will stay in the 70’s. I need to refill the bird feeders. The spawn of Satan eats out of and empties one of them so I’m going to cayenne the seeds in that feeder. Take that, you spawn!!

When I was teaching, I traveled every year during the summer, usually for at least a month. I was a backpacker. One of my favorite trips was Finland to Russia to Denmark then finishing in London. Today I’m taking you to Finland. Enjoy your trip!

In Helsinki, we stayed in a hostel and in a university dorm, both were close to the city square. Helsinki is beautiful. One of the trams is also a tourist guide of sorts. As you ride, a voice tells you in a couple of languages what you’re seeing. I shopped at Market Hall, a farmers’ market. Stalls were lined along the square and boats were moored and filled with produce. From Helsinki I took an overnight train to Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. I bought the cheap ticket for a sort of bunk room, a couchette with three bunks on each side. The friend I was traveling with and a Finnish lady were the only ones in my room. She didn’t speak English so we passed the language book back and forth to have a conversation. Next we took a bus to Lake Inari, north of the Arctic Circle. It was the time of the Midnight Sun. Reindeer guided by a herder were along the roads. We stayed in a summer hotel which was surrounded by huge pine trees. We also had dinner there. I had reindeer. The next day we explored. It is an incredible place.

We returned to Helsinki and booked a train ride to what was then Leningrad. There were three of us in the car. A bulky woman would come down the aisle and just say, “Tea? I always said yes. The tea was Russian and came in glass cups with long sugar cubes. I had several cups. When we got to the border, my train car was detached from the Finnish train and attached to a Russian train. Soldiers came on and checked my passport and visa. We then continued to Leningrad. Our arrival in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, ends today’s travelogue.

My dance card has a few entries. Today is a luncheon at a restaurant in Hyannis with the president of The National Peace Corps Association. Monday is the last summer concert in Hyannis with a celebratory pizza party after we play. I have the usual uke practice and lesson and two more concerts later in the week. This will be a busy week.