I’d have you guess the weather, but you’d probably say cloudy and ugly, and you’d be right. It is 36°, the low for the day. Rain and snow are predicted, not much snow but enough for head shaking and wondering what is going on with the weather and where is spring hiding.

When I was a kid, we sometimes went to Boston. I loved going there, but it was always a trek. We had to walk uptown to catch a bus to Sullivan Square. Once at Sullivan, we’d walk up the stairs to the subway station and wait for the train. I remember seeing the train way off down the tracks and hearing the sound of it coming. I also remember the breeze from the cars. I used to kneel on the train seat so I could look out the window. We’d get off the train at the station with all the stores. You could go directly into Jordan Marsh and Filene’s right there at the station. I remember there was a small decorated window at the entrance to Jordan’s. We never went to Filene’s

If the weather was warm, we go to the Common and the Public Garden. I loved feeding the squirrels. I was young then. Three or four of them would surround me and take bread from my hand. I loved it. We’d sometimes ride the Swan Boats. They’d circle the lagoon under pedal power. I remember all the ducks.

I have favorite smells. I love the aroma of cookies baking in the oven. I grow rosemary in deck boxes and rub my hand up the stocks so it smells of the rosemary. It is the same with the mint. A spring morning smells of grass and flowers. Adding a bright sun makes it a perfect morning. One of my all time favorite smells is of burning wood. In Ghana, people cook over wood charcoal fires. The sweet aroma of the fire is one of my favorite memories. On every trip back, that aroma filled the morning air. It always made me feel at home.