Today is bit of a tease. The morning looks warm through the windows. The sun is bright in the clear air. Its light looks almost white. The blue of the sky is azure. The day is lovely, but if I go out, I’ll bundle. It is in the mid 30’s and will stay that way all day.

The other day I heard the time on the radio given as 55 minutes after the hour. I hadn’t ever heard it described that way before then. I would have said 5 minutes before the hour. I am analog in a digital world.

When I was a kid, planning for the future meant deciding what I was going to do on Saturday as Sunday was pre-planned: church and Sunday dinner and sometimes visiting grandparents, my mother’s family. I loved the city where they lived. I loved Italian bakery square pizza and the Italian ice sometimes sold out the front windows of houses on my grandparents’ block. I played step ball. I also played stickball in the street with a broomstick bat and a half tennis ball. I remember the truck with a small carousel on the back flatbed. It stopped on the street so the little kids could have a ride. I can’t remember how much we paid for a ride. I do remember it was small with four horses and played carousel music as it spun. I would go to the corner store up the street with my dime in hand. My grandfather kept a stack of dimes. He knew we’d leave to run to the store and peace, for him, would reign.

Henry is a happy dog. His tail is always high in the air and wagging. He is many firsts for me. He is my first rescue, my first male dog and my first not a boxer dog. Nala is my traditional dog, a female boxer. They have come to an understanding. They even like each other. Henry does growl at her but usually as a warning. She had her head resting on his back the other day, and he growled. She moved. The next day just about his whole body was sleeping on her, but Nana didn’t mind. She slept right through. They play with mouths open eating each other’s face’s. They make a lot of noise.

Today is a day of lasts. I toasted my last two pieces of bread and slathered one piece with the last of my black mission fig jam. The dog’s dry food is finished. They got the dregs yesterday. I am going to cook rice for them today. I’ll shop tomorrow after my concert.

Today is water the plants day and put trash in the trunk day, including hauling down the box of litter from upstairs. It is heavy so I move it step by step. The dump is scheduled for Sunday. I can barely wait says I with tongue in cheek.

Some winter days are so pretty. Today is one of them. The bright sun glints through the trees and the blue sky is cloudless. The air is so clear that the pine branches seem to pop like in a 3d movie. It is cold, but with no wind it feels warmer. Days like today make winter bearable.

My dance card for the week is uke filled. Besides practice and my lesson, I have two concerts, tomorrow and Friday. We are starting to practice our Irish music.

When I was a kid, cold didn’t matter. I still had to walk to school even during a deep freeze. I just bundled more. Mittens kept my hands warm so I could carry my lunch box. My school bag had a long strap so I put it over my shoulder. I wore my school shoes though sometimes I had to wear boots. I never liked wearing boots. I had to pull them on over my shoes. It was always a bit of a struggle but taking them off was even worse. Later, I discovered if I took off my shoes I could easily put them in and out of my boots then slide my foot into the shoes.

My house had radiators. One was against the wall at the foot of my bed. I could hear the water running through the radiator pipes. I could hear the steam hissing. Sometimes, if I were cold, I’d sit with my back against the radiator. I’d put my shoes underneath it until they were dry. I always loved the hissing sound.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are high on my comfort food list. They were the perfect winter lunch. I think every mother bought Campbell’s tomato soup. The can was the measure. My mother would add half can of water and half a can of milk though sometimes it was just milk which made the soup thick and tasty. The sandwich was always white bread and Velveeta cheese which melted perfectly. I loved dunking the sandwich into the soup. My mother made the best winter lunches, the best grilled cheese sandwiches.