Rain started yesterday afternoon and continued into the night. Today will be cloudy and chilly with a high in the 40’s, maybe even the low 50’s. I’ll stay close to hearth and home. I’m thinking a nap nestled under warm covers might be the best way to pass the afternoon.

When I was a kid, afternoons were sacred. During the school year, they were the times of day I got to play or bike ride. They were so short in winter I’d change into my play clothes as soon as I got home from school and bolt out the door. When I was young, I stayed in the neighborhood where we had woods for exploring and fields for catching grasshoppers. When I was older, I went further afield but always kept in mind I had to be home when the streetlights came on. In the darkening late afternoon, I did any homework I might have had. Usually I had a few work sheets or a story to read and questions to answer. Dinner wasn’t much later than that.

The kitchen in the duplex where we lived was small and narrow. Counter space, though on both sides of the sink, was limited, and one side was only big enough for the dish rack. The other side was where the turtle’s bowl was tucked below a couple of cabinets. The stove was on the opposite wall from the fridge. Both of them were small. The backdoor was to the left of the fridge. I can still see battered pans on the stove filled with potatoes and veggies for dinner and my mother standing at the sink washing dishes. I used to do my homework at the kitchen table.

When I was looking to buy a house, I wanted a dining room, and I wanted a downstairs bedroom for a den. I got both. When I have guests for dinner, I love to decorate the dining room table. Mostly I have pottery dishes. I like the den for watching TV instead of having one in the living room. The den is for leisure. The living room is for company and the Christmas tree.

I am wearing my cozies. I am happy and comfortable. It is enough.

Rain is predicted. Right now it is windy and damp. I have to do a dump trip today as it is closed the next two days. My car is almost loaded. I only have papers and boxes left.

Okay, I have returned. I left because everything was disconnected: no telephone, no internet so no computer and no TV applications. I decided to the dump run at that point then I went to the library parking lot to use their wi-fi to call Xfinity. The person I got frustrated me so much my stomach roiled. She claimed to forward me to help but she didn’t. We did that dance four times. Finally I got a woman who knew what to do. She hung with me from the library all the way home. We got the phone back, the internet on the computer but not on the TV. I lost her then. I decided to figure out the TV problem. I actually did it, figured it out. I now have all my apps back. I want to do a triumphant Rocky run up the steps.

I have a calendar of interesting facts. On Friday I learned rats laugh when you tickle them. That brings up a few questions. Who thought it might be a good idea to tickle a rat and why? Did the rat lie on his back with its legs in the air to have his belly tickled? How do rats laugh? I’m thinking they have a high pitched laugh, maybe even a giggle. I’m also thinking it might be a Willard and Ben sort of leisure activity.

When I was in high school, I had two hamsters, two male hamsters is what I was told. If they were, a miracle happened as one of them gave birth. I took the real male out of the cage as the fathers are known to munch or hurt their young to attract the attention of the Mrs. He got his own cage. The babies went to good homes. Unbeknownst to us, the hamster escaped by lifting the bar on the door. The cat found him and was playing with him in the tub. We saved the hamster. When one cage was too close to the rug, the hamster chewed the rug, brought pieces inside and made a comfy nest. The adults were kept apart. A while later the mother hamster got loose. We couldn’t find her. Later we found her behind the stove, the site of her demise. She had tried to chew the wire. Big mistake. After that we called my mother the Lord High Executioner.