Today is another lovely day. It is also another cold day. I still have a walkway covered in snow, but my car is clear. I’m glad for that as I do have an errand.

The cold breaks tomorrow. We’ll be in the 40’s. In comparison, it will feel like summer. I’ll sweep the walk later today so the sun can melt the walk clear.

I have been home for what seems like forever. I don’t see people so I talk to the dogs to maintain my communication skills. I want to be Doctor Doolittle so I can carry on a conversation in dog.

I don’t remember feeling cold when I was a kid as I was bundled with several layers, and I had my mother. She helped. She’d reach up my coat sleeve to pull down my sweater. She yanked and pulled my boots over my shoes, not an easy task. The mittens were last. She’d put them on my hands and tuck the tops in my jacket sleeve. I was prepared for a new Ice Age.

When I was a kid, I had to walk by a huge field on my way to school. When it was snow covered, the field was like the tundra, a vast expanse. The wind whipped across that field. I’d sometimes walk backwards to keep the wind chill from my face. I’d open my arms. They were like sails.

In Ghana, the seasons were the rainy season and the dry season. I lived in the hottest part of the country with the shortest rainy season. During the dry season, I remember watching the fires in the fields burning the detritus, the left over debris from the crops, from mostly millet and corn. The air was filed with smoke. I could see the line of fire moving across the fields. Even the field behind my house was burned.

My eleven year old self would be amazed and thrilled at where I have been. That was how old I was when I vowed to travel the world. Ghana was my first country. I was going to Africa. I was going to live in Africa. That still amazes me.

I let the dogs out around 2:30 before we went to bed. It was snowing. It was freezing. They peed on the run. Luckily, that snow was only a dusting. I hope it melts. I don’t shovel. I don’t even own a novel. I noticed the snow on my car is melting so I am optimistic. If I have to, I’ll sweep. It is 23°.

No concert for me today. My croaky voice has yet to disappear. It is the only symptom left so I have high hopes that by Tuesday, my uke practice day, my voice will be back to its usual dulcet tones. We have two concerts this week.

When I was a kid, Saturday was my day while Sunday was a family day. I sometimes went to the early mass with my dad then we’d go to Dunkin’ Donuts. He was a plain donut man, an old fashioned donut man. I was a butternut fan. Once home, my father would make his coffee, always instant, and slather his donut with butter. He’d sit at the table and read the paper while enjoying his breakfast. I still have a vivid memory of my father at the table. He always faced the windows.

My favorite Sunday dinner is still roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes and peas. My mother made the best gravy. I always drowned my potatoes. It was my last dinner at home before I left for Ghana.

I used to love to color. I’d get a coloring book in my stocking and in my Easter basket. I’d also get a set of crayons. I remember the set of 64 which came with a sharpener. I have a few unopened boxes of crayons I’m saving. One box includes all the retired colors. It came in a tin. One of my Christmas presents from Moe this year was a coloring book, My Coloring Book About Ghana. It has animals, masks, women dressed in cloth and a map of Ghana with all its regions. It is for kids under 8 years of age.

I am watching the very first episode of The Lone Ranger. The description says the Lone Ranger and his Native American partner fight for law and order. Tonto, when I was first watching this, used to be described as his Indian companion. It is Tonto who saves John Reid, the only Texas Ranger to live, after the ambush by the Cavendish Gang. I had forgotten that Tonto and the Lone Ranger had met when they were both young when it was John Reid who saved Tonto. Tonto calls the Lone Ranger Kemosahbe. I looked it up. I found, “Derived from gimoozaabi, an Ojibwe and Potawatomi word that may mean ‘he/she looks out in secret’, it has been occasionally translated as ‘trusty scout’ (the first Lone Ranger TV episode) or ‘faithful friend'”. I’m now on Episode 2. The Lone Ranger has just found a wounded Silver.