It is warm at 68° and will get even warmer, into the 70’s. The breeze is so slight the leaves dance. Everything shines in the bright light of the sun. The blue sky almost defies description. This is the perfect morning.

Today’s will be a short posting. I almost took a hiatus but, out of habit, my fingers hit the keyboard.

On my counter are the jars and cans from one cabinet shelf. In the sink are the expired cans and jars from the same shelf. I started this monumental task when I was waiting for my coffee to brew. I am sorry I started this whole mess as now I’ll have to finish. I guess the consolation is I’ll have room in the cabinet for more cans.

My den is filled with furniture, my TV, pictures, posters, my hat collection, my ukes and 12 music books, Bolga baskets, my record player and a pile of records, shelves filled with cookbooks and wooden boxes also with cookbooks but a couple of boxes are filled with my collections like snow globes, old bottles, tin toys and even clickers shaped like animals. I love this room though I suspect others would probably find it claustrophobic, but it is my space, the place where I relax, where I even take naps. I read the cookbooks some nights taking note of what I might make. I watch old movies, mostly in black and white. The dogs sleep beside me on the couch, one on each side of me. I’m leaving this room just the way it is.

This morning is following the same weather pattern as the last few days. It is only in the high 50’s. The sun, pretty but not so warm, is shining high in a sky of deep blue. It will only get to the low 60’s today, but starting tomorrow it will get warmer for the long weekend. The deluge of cars will begin tonight.

When I was a kid, I was thrilled to march in the Memorial Day parade in my town. It was a small time celebration, a parade of boy and girl scouts, brownies, cub scouts, the high school band, little league players and a dramatic finale, fire trucks blowing their alarms. I was a brownie and matched with my troop and several others. I was agog with excitement and pride. My parents were always there, watching from the sidewalk, and I remember waving at them when they yelled my name. We marched through town to one of the cemeteries where there was a service of sorts honoring the military who had given their lives for their country. After the parade, we went home to a barbecue of burgers and hot dogs with a few sides. I think peppers and eggs, my favorite, was one of the sides.

I probably won’t be around and about this weekend. It is time to hibernate, to avoid the traffic of sightseers, beach goers and rubberneckers. I have a few chores I might finish or might not depending on my mood.

I used to like to color. Every Christmas I’d get a new coloring book and crayons. I’d sit at the kitchen table with my crayons strewn in front of me. I never threw crayons away, even stubs. I used to tear off the paper as the crayons got shorter so the nuances of color disappeared. Sunset and vermillion were just red. Cerulean and indigo were just blue. I was fine with that. I started with a small box of crayons, but every Christmas the box got bigger, filled with all sort of colors. One year my box had 64 crayons and a built in sharpener. It was my favorite box. I loved sharpening my crayons when the tips got blunter with use.

This last Christmas my sister gave me a coloring book called My Coloring Book about Ghana. I chuckled as it was described on the back cover as, “For kids under 8 years old.” It was made in Connecticut. She also gave me the box of 64 Crayola crayons, and it still has a built in sharpener. I can hardly wait to use it.