Last night was winter, down to the 20’s. Today we are back to fall. It is in the 40’s. There is a strong every now and then wind which blows all the leaves and pine needles across the deck and yard. I can’t even see the driveway. When the dogs run around the backyard, I can hear the leaves crackling.

Today I’m taking you back to Ghana for a bit.

When I first met the principal of my school, Georgina Intsiful, it was during training, after our live-ins, when we were to spend a week at each of our schools meeting our principals, seeing our houses and opening checking accounts. Mrs. Insitful drove a small blue car. She was a bit of an imposing woman, tall and broad. She sat up straight in that little car. When I was sitting outside one morning, she stopped at my house. She asked me if I had brought my Bible. When I was packing, a Bible had never come to mind. I was thinking more of sheets and towels. I told her that I hadn’t, but I had parts of it memorized. She didn’t say a word.

Sundays at my school started with a service in the cafeteria with lines of chairs and the tables removed. My students wore their formal clothes, three piece dresses with a top, bottom and a cloth around their waists. Each class wore a unique pattern made from Ghanaian cloth. The sermons were given by clerics from the different churches in town. I didn’t usually attend. One day, Georgina came and asked me to give the sermon the next Sunday. I said yes which I immediately regretted.

That week before my sermon I couldn’t figure out what to say. I dismissed sin, heaven and hell and everything in between. I figured those belonged to the churches. First, I chose the hymns then finally I figured out a sermon. It was based on an Aesop fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I talked about lying and liars who aren’t believed. I thought I was eloquent, but I suspect my principal wished I had brought a Bible.

Today looks like yesterday, but the bright sun is deceiving. We are in the 30’s where we’ll stay all day. I have no plans for today. I’m thinking a sloth day. I do those sorts of days quite well.

When I was kid, Saturday was my favorite day of the week. The morning was leisurely. I’d wake up sort of early, grab my Rice Krispies, add milk and sugar then plop myself on the rug in front of the TV to watch cartoons, series like Tin Tin Tin and sometimes serials. The serial I remember the best is Gene Autry’s Phantom Empire. I can still picture scenes from it, especially the long elevator which took them deep underground. After a while, it was time for me to hit the road. In warm weather I’d grab my bike and take off for parts unknown. In cooler or snowy weather I’d walk. Sometimes I went ice skating either at Recreation Park, the MDC rink or the swamp. I remember how weird my feet felt in shoes after skating for a while. I wasn’t the best skater, but I did manage backwards. Once the matinees started at the movie theater up town, I’d spend my afternoons there. A cartoon was always first, before the main feature. I remember seeing The Wizard of Oz. I remember getting pelted by candy and watching Al, the owner, running up and down the aisles shining his light trying to find the miscreants. I also remember the very back rows were filled with teen couples making out as we used to call it.

In Ghana, I often shopped in town on Saturdays at the stores and kiosks and in the market if it was market day. The kiosks were three sided with open fronts filled with shelves. I bought my margarine and condensed milk at a kiosk. In the market I bought my fruits, vegetables and meat, live chickens and beef at the butcher shop, the word shop being loosely used here. I bought yams, bananas, pineapple, oranges, pawpaw, mangos, tomatoes and onions. I’d carry my purchases home in my shepherd’s bag, a woven bag which stretched to fit everything and got very heavy. Before I got my moto, I’d walk to and from town. Usually, though, a car would stop and offer me a ride home to my school. I was the only white woman my first year so they all knew who I was.

The dogs are napping on the couch. They lead an easy life. Jack too is napping. It is just that sort of a day.