The weather is still a delight. It is 73° and partly sunny. Nothing is moving in the still air. The dogs are enjoying the day and have been in and out a couple of times. Henry was on the couch enjoying his morning nap when we heard Nala bark. Henry right away ran outside, and I was quick to follow. Nala never barks. I expected her either to have a critter of some sort in her mouth or a poor critter treed with no escape. She had neither and was just standing in the yard. A disappointed Henry and I came back inside. Nala followed.

This morning I was buttering some toast when I thought of my mother. I know that seems a bit odd, but a memory from a way back memory drawer connected with the butter and jumped into my head. My mother told us a bit about rationing and the war. She was in high school during the war. She was the third born of six during and before the war and third born of eight after. She told us how with rationing they couldn’t often get butter so they used lard. In order to make it more palatable, they colored the lard orange so it looked a bit like butter. She said it really tasted awful. When I was growing up, we always had butter, never margarine. The other story she told was how nylons were used to aid the national defense in the war effort. They were used mostly in the manufacturing of parachutes so my mother had to improvise. She painted a line straight line up the backs of her legs so it looked as if she was wearing stockings. That was as close to fashionable as she could get.

I am not Pollyanna today. I am a bit grouchy. I can walk okay, but if I move my leg too quickly in a side direction, it hurts. I yell. Last night I yelped, and poor Nala didn’t know what to do. She looked at me with the most sympathetic eyes until I comforted her. That made her feel better. It made me feel better too.

My dance card has a few items. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, just a regular check up, and uke practice. I also have a lesson and a concert. That’s a full enough week.

Today is the prettiest day. It is warm and sunny at 73°. Days like today are the best of fall. Last night it rained. I didn’t know at first as the rain was quiet. It was Henry’s wet coat which had me check outside the back door. I turned on the light. The drops were so small I could barely see them. Later, though, the rain got heavy enough to be heard. That’s when I went to bed.

My reunion was great fun. I wandered and mingled. The years have been kind. I recognized so many of my classmates. We caught up a bit, 60 years of history. We ordered off the menu. I went with the iconic fish and chips. My meal was delicious. I even had a drink or two. It has been a long while since my last social event, since I last had to choose what to wear. I even polished my earrings. I was sort of dressed to the nines. It was quite the event.

When I was a kid, I had to wear a uniform to school and a dress or skirt to church. I didn’t complain. That was just the way it was. Even in college, I had to wear a skirt or dress. Mostly I wore skirts. In my second year, the rule was changed. It was the weather. The winter was especially cold. We never went back to the earlier dress code. In Ghana, I had to wear dresses. I brought skirts and dresses with me but mostly I had dresses made. My next door neighbor was my seamstress. All the dresses were made using Ghanaian cloth. When I went back to Ghana so many years later, I could wear pants, but I did bring a summer dress just in case. In Bolga, I bought cloth in the market and went to a seamstress to have a few blouses made. My students gave me a dress. All my new clothes were made with Ghanaian cloth. I even had a tablecloth and napkins sewn. I love using them to dress my table.

My dance card for the week is uke: practice, a lesson and one concert. A few chores are on my to do list. I need to clean upstairs. It has been neglected. That is on the top of the list. I have stuff needing to go down the cellar. They are leaning against the cellar door waiting. I haven’t taken them downstairs as I was afraid to tackle those stairs, but I think I can now. Famous last words!