Today is bleak and rainy. The sky hangs low. It will be chilly all day. Going out on a day like today is uninviting, but I need cat food and dog treats. Without dog treats, I put my life in jeopardy.

On Tuesday I put my first load of laundry into the washing machine. Later, when I went down the cellar to move the wash into the dryer, I could smell death, machinery death. I opened the washer. The clothes were soaked. They had been cleaned but not rinsed. My washing machine is currently dead. I consider it a sign. Yesterday, I brought my laundry to the laundromat to be washed, dried and folded. It should be finished today.

If you are keeping score, that is 2 down: first the TV and now the washing machine.

I don’t have an electric can opener. I once had one, but it died of old age; instead, I use what is described on E-Bay as a vintage, retro old-fashioned can opener. It is silver. It is a struggle to use. The dog food cans I open now have no tabs so I turn and turn that old can opener. It takes a while because of my dog eaten finger. I’m almost tempted to go electric.

When I was a kid, my father ranted sometimes over silly things like not washing out a glass. I learned to let him rant without answering him or giving the slightest grin. He was harmless and just needed to vent. Once in a while, though, my mother stood behind him and made faces. It took all of my self-control not to laugh. I think I bit my lip.

When I was a kid, our dog Duke was not allowed on furniture, but he was smart and sneaky. At night, he’d sleep on the couch but he’d jump off when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He’d lean across the beds with only his toes on the floor. When he was older, he roughed it and slept on the rug in my room. He snored.

We had to be quiet in the library. We got shushed if we even whispered. The librarian spoke so quietly I had to lean in to listen to her when we interacted which was usually at the desk when I was taking out books. One side of the library had easy chairs. That’s where the newspapers and magazines were. Mostly old people sat in the chairs. The papers rustled. On the other side of the library were wooden tables and chairs. Teens sat there at night. The library was a meeting spot. Parents didn’t object to going to the library on school nights. In the middle, across from the doors, was the desk. Behind the desk were the card catalogues. I loved going to the second floor to hunt for books. I’d stand at the rail and make like Ozmandias.

Rain is predicted for today. The sun was straight out earlier but now just comes and goes. Today is warm, already in the high 50’s. The prediction is for 62°. When it is that warm, I almost want to run in the rain the way I used to when I was a kid.

When I was growing up, we always played board games. Every Christmas a new game was one of our presents. I remember Chutes and Ladders. I also remember the long slide we all wanted to avoid. We played Go to the Head of the Class with our parents. My brother was always Cowboy Joe. I still have our old game. Sorry was and is our all time favorite. My friends and I even played it the other night.

My parents taught my brother and me to play whist. It was the girls against the boys. The girls usually won. Even when we were older, we played cards around the kitchen table. Every time I visited, my father and I played cribbage. All of us played High-Low Jack or Pitch as it is also known. I remember one game when we were playing with partners, I don’t remember my father’s hapless partner. I do remember whoever it was trumped my father’s ace. My father went crazy. Somehow he hurt his back and fell off the bench to the kitchen floor. There he was lying there on his back still complaining about his partner. We just watched.

When we traveled, my parents and I, we always brought cards and a cribbage board. After dinner, my father and I would play a few games. My mother always packed whiskey so they’d have a couple of drinks. She usually did crossword puzzles while we played. I loved those evenings being with my parents enjoying each other’s company.

We, Bill, Peg and I, played games at night in Ghana. We had no radio and no TV so games were our diversions. I’ve mentioned the alphabet game before, but I’ll give a recap. The alphabet is put on paper top to bottom, A to Z. Beside each alphabet letter another letter is put, usually from a random sentence in a book. The game was to come up with names which matched the two letters like AL for Abraham Lincoln. Bill claimed the names he found were football players. Peg and I never believed him so we’d vote on whether or not to accept his answer. Bill always lost 2-1.