Today is cold. I even wore my heavy sweater. I also wore my red Converse high tops, tis’ the season after all. I used to drive 10 miles a week. This week I have already gone 64. My dance card is never empty anymore. Gone are the sloth days. Every day has something I have to do. Yesterday was my uke lesson, number two uke event of the week. Today was PT, the second one this week. Tomorrow I get to add another doctor to the herd, a cardiologist surgeon. On Saturday I see my hand surgeon. On Sunday I rest.

I rode down 6A today. It was a lovely ride. Places are decorated for Christmas, and people are selling greenery at their small stands. My favorite sold greenery and duck eggs. I also stopped for a few groceries. When I got home, it only took 3 minutes for me to get cozy again. I’m in for the rest of the day.

I have chores I am ignoring. I’m just not in the mood. I keep thinking I’ll do them tomorrow. Scarlett O’Hara is my role model, “After all… tomorrow is another day.”

When I was a kid, Christmas never came fast enough. We drove my father crazy asking when we could get our tree. I remember how excited we all were when he brought it into the house. Furniture got moved so the tree could be in the corner. The sparse side of the tree went in the back. The decorations were brought into the living room. My father tried to untangle the lights. He worked until his patience was exhausted. Finally, the lights were wound around the tree. The ornaments went next. My mother put the big glass ornaments on the topmost branches. We put the rest on the tree. I remember a paper Coke Santa Claus with a loop for hanging we used to put in the middle were there was no greenery. We also put old Christmas in the middle. I remember some of them were from my Aunt Barbara. Silver tinsel was circled around the tree from top to bottom then came the icicles, always controversial. Toss or hang?

The weather is taking a turn. It is colder today, in the mid 40’s, and will get colder tonight, more seasonable. The sky is cloudy making for a dark day. The only saving grace is the still air, nothing is moving.

I have the usual chores I’m avoiding. Laundry tops the list. I avert my eyes when I walk by the almost full basket. Maybe tomorrow.

Today it seems my muse has deserted me. I keep starting a thread then stopping and deleting it when it goes nowhere. Being around the house so much means fewer adventures. When I go out, it is usually to the dump or the store and, of late, to physical therapy. I find it all a bit boring. I do have uke, the only bright spot in my week. Maybe I’ll just take a ride and meander a bit.

When I was a kid, we lived in a duplex almost to the top of a hill. That’s important. In the snow we sledded down that hill, and during the rest of the year, we’d ride our bikes to the bottom. Going back up was a different story. I remember holding the rope from the front of my sled and pulling it up the hill. The rope got heavy with ice, and my mittens got soaked. As for my bike, I could ride it only halfway up the hill for a long time then I’d walk it. I still remember the sense of triumph when I rode it all the way up to my house. I kept listening for applause.

It seems when I’m stuck I head back to Ghana. The memory of that hill brought me there today. My school was down a dirt road at the top of a hill. Between the school road and town there were mostly fields with a compound here and there. The hill was not steep, but it was long. I’d borrow a bike and ride down the hill to town. When my shopping was finished, I’d put the bag filled with fruit on the handlebar of the bike then I’d ride back up the hill as far as I could pedal. I’d end up walking the rest of the way.