Keep the Coffee Comimg

My blog is still a mess. I need to sit with it a while to figure out how to get back to Coffee as we know it. I am quite frustrated at myself. I didn’t pay the annual fee I had been paying until all hell broke loose. Now I have to figure everything out again. Oh well!

Today is spring warm, in the mid 60’s. The clouds are gone and the sun has taken its rightful place in a blue sky. My weather gauges, the two dogs, are outside and have been for a while. They have even missed their morning naps to enjoy the warmth. I just might have to join them.*

I can still remember the joy the first warm days brought when I was a kid. It was spring jacket weather, sometimes skipping all the way to school weather and perfect weather for playing outside till late afternoon. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the field below our house. In spring, the grass grew tall and was filled with grasshoppers. I remember running to chase the jumping grasshoppers hoping to catch one with my hands. They were brown. I used to peek through my fingers to check them out. I liked their legs. I remember the dead tree on the left in the back of the field. Only the bottom part of its truck stood. One big branch had fallen across the path. I used to climb over it rather than take the path around it. Just beyond that tree, the field ended in a copse with only a small dirt pathway between the trees. The swamp was just a bit further. That was my play-land when I was a kid.

When I was really young, I didn’t have any worries. My only responsibility was school. I didn’t mind. I always liked school. Because I wore a uniform, I didn’t worry about clothes. I mostly had play clothes and a dress or two for church. I loved comfy clothes, still do. In Ghana, I was the dressiest I have ever been. I wore a dress every day. It was customary.

I have been infected by the cleaning bug. While I was waiting for my coffee, I ended up in the dining room cleaning and dusting the cupboard, all the dishes in it, the tables and the chairs. I fear that bug.

I’m back! Greasing the fingers of WordPress had my site up and running in only a couple of hours. I was finally able to exhale. I admit I did panic a bit to think it was all gone. I wish I could have started earlier. It was a sunny lovely morning then, not so now. The sky is cloudy and rain is predicted so the kitchen floor will stay dirty. I’ll just close my eyes when I walk into the kitchen.

I am cooking chicken in the big frying pan with a cover. I learned my lesson when Nala stole a chicken breast right out of the pan.

I have never been a cruise person, but there have been two exceptions. One was the cruise ship which went through the Miraflores lock of the Panama Canal. My mother chose that cruise because the ship was old, small and went through the canal. She knew I’d jump on board(sorry!). The ship had been built in the 1950’s. It had been refurbished a bit as a casino and a movie theater were added. The railings and the outside walkways were teak. There was only one dining room, but there were also other spots for food. I used to get up early and eat breakfast up top right by the outside doors and the ocean. I’d eat with my brother in law Rod also an early riser. That ship stopped at Cartagena, Columbia, and we all got off. I took a tour then went on my own to roam. It also stopped at the San Blas Islands. I went snorkeling and then checked out the big island. I left the center of town and followed a dirt road. I found a village. They were a bit surprised to see me. I was invited into a house and went inside to meet the family. We did a lot of pointing as we had no language in common. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to watch us go through the canal. The shore was so lit up it was as bright as day. The ship was guided through the canal mules, electronic locomotives named after the actual mules on the Erie Canal. It was spectacular. We stopped at the Gatun Lake, a freshwater artificial lake which is part of the canal. I went swimming. I bought a t-shirt which said I swam in the Panama Canal.

My other cruise I’ll save for another day. I will tell you it was in South America from Paraguay to Argentina.

My dance card is uke heavy this week with practice, a lesson and three concerts. My only free day is tomorrow. I think I’ll nap.