Apologies, apologies for the lateness of the hour. I slept quite late then a former student from Ghana who lives here in the US called, and we spoke for well over an hour. It was catch up time. We spoke of her days as my student and of Bolga. Franciska is a FraFra, the tribe in and around Bolga. Her family home is in a village outside of Bolga. She was one of the youngest students in my class the first year. She was also one of the smartest. Franciska has had some heavy duty medical issues, but she sounded healthy and said she was feeling good. We caught each other up with what we’ve each been doing. She hasn’t been back to Ghana for a long time but hopes to go. I told her that was also my hope.

I am taking it easy again today. That worked yesterday as my leg is much better, and I can stand up without moaning. The Tylenol helped as I woke up only a couple of times during the night. I still need to do an errand.

The afternoon is mostly sunny. It is in the high 50’s. The air is still. My neighborhood is quiet though Henry did break the silence when he barked at the Amazon driver delivering a big bag of dog food to the house. Nala is still up to her felonious ways. I found a rolled pair of sneaker socks in the hall downstairs. They had been upstairs. I think I have to do a yard check.

Duke, the boxer I grew up with, was not a thief. He didn’t usually steal food from the counter except that one time we caught him, my brother and I. My mother had put the Sunday roast on the counter to defrost. It was roast beef, my favorite. My brother and I were watching TV when Duke came out of the kitchen with the roast in his mouth. We jumped up, grabbed him, opened his jaw and took the roast. He was not a happy dog. The roast has teeth marks. We washed it and smoothed out the teeth marks as well as we could. We must have done a great job as my mother didn’t notice. As we were sitting around the table eating, my brother and I were hard-pressed not to laugh.

Fall is firmly entrenched. The sunlight is sharp, no longer diffused as in summer. The breeze is chilly and constant. In the mornings the house holds on to the night air and is cold. I bundle a bit, a hoodie and warm slippers. It is time to put the storm door on the front. It is time to prepare for the coming of winter.

I’ve always loved this time of year. I remember how crisp the air felt in the mornings on my walk to school. I wore a jacket. The day would warm, but I still needed my jacket on the walk home. Darkness came in the late afternoon. We were inside early. We’d watch TV, or I’d do homework or read to pass the time until supper. We’d eat at the table in the kitchen. We could hear the TV in the background from the living room. We’d finish eating then to go back to watching TV until bedtime.

I used to love walking in the gutters and kicking the leaves. They flew into the air and onto the street. My front yard didn’t have trees which dropped their leaves. They were mostly fir trees. The backyard had a big hill and no trees. The sidewalks, though, were sheltered by big trees and long branches and were covered in fallen leaves.

My father raked on Saturdays. He’d clear the sidewalks and rake and sweep the dead leaves into big piles in the gutters. He’d burn the piles. I remember the smoke was gray, and the burning leaves had the best smell. I’d watch them burn. My clothes would hold on to the smell long after the fire was out.

Nala is sneaky. She quietly gets into things. This morning I found torn paper napkins and paper towels in the hall. I think she stole them from the bag I keep in this room for recycling my newspapers and magazines. I am either too engrossed in what I am doing or too absent minded to notice. When I accuse her, that stub tail wags, and she sort of smiles. That is her tell.

I was tired yesterday after nine straight days of mostly uke so yesterday I didn’t go to my uke lesson or the concert. I went back to bed and slept until noon. I am still tired today, and after all that activity my leg is hurting. The pain woke me up a few times during the night. I heard moaning. What a shock to find out I was the moaner. This morning I have started taking Tylenol again. I do need a few things, my usually bread and cream, but I won’t go out; instead, I need to stay home and do nothing, to rest my leg. I’m getting good at doing nothing.