Last night’s rain was spectacular. It pounded the windows and blew trees sideways. The dogs wouldn’t even go out, and they usually don’t mind rain. This morning dawned dark and dank. Everything is soaked, but it has stopped raining.

The dogs and I were rudely awakened by a smoke alarm in the wee hours this morning. The dogs shook, and I jumped out of bed. The irritating beeps seemed to come from the one outside my room, but it was difficult to tell. After a bit, it stopped but then started later and later again. After it beeped a long time, I grabbed a stepladder and disconnected all three of the alarms. One kept beeping though disconnected. I am now left in a quandary. I could pull off the caps, but I can’t get at the innards. I used my stepladder to climb and pull the caps, but the ladder is short and a bit scary, and I am not the best of climbers. My hope is the beeping is at an end. Reconnecting is the next problem, but as Scarlett O’Hara said, “I’ll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.”

When I was a kid, I had favorite television programs. Every day after school I watched Superman. I still remember the introduction, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” I never questioned the disguise of glasses and why Clark wasn’t recognized as Superman. I never realized what a role model Lois actually was. “Great Caesar’s Ghost,” was Perry White’s favorite expletive. My Superman memory drawer is filled. I remember it all.

I also watched the Mickey Mouse Club. I sang along with the introduction. I loved the openings and the closings. l loved Spin and Marty. When I was in college, we were discussing the themes of each day. We couldn’t remember Tuesday so I wrote to the Walt Disney studio. I got a wonderful letter in reply. Tuesday was Guest Star Day.

My finger is getting better. Its aches only part of the time especially when I use it which happens almost automatically, it being my dominant hand. It aches right now. I used it to take off the smoke alarm caps. My other hand I used to balance myself against the wall.

I stopped taking a dance card. Lately I haven’t anything to fill it. Going to Agway or the dump doesn’t count. Today I need a few groceries. That doesn’t count either.

The day is warm and sunny, in the mid 60’s, though rain is predicted. I got up early, unusual for me, but I had an appointment at the hospital to check out pain in my leg. It took a couple of hours. As soon as I got home, I grabbed another cup of coffee and took off my out of the house clothes. I’m back to being cozy and comfortable.

When I was a kid, I followed the campaign of John Kennedy for president. It was the very first time I was interested in politics, and it was because Kennedy was my senator, and he was a Catholic. I read the newspapers and followed the polls. I stopped at his election headquarters uptown for pins which I still have on display. I watched the debates. For some reason I remember the controversy about Quemoy-Matsu. Maybe it was the names of the islands themselves. There is a bit of the lyrical about them. Maybe it was the map showing the islands and their closeness to China. I remember I didn’t really understand the strategy, the politics, of it all as that was the first time I had ever heard of the two islands. It was also the last time.

The day after the election I was thrilled to find John Kennedy had beaten Richard Nixon and would be our next president. I watched the inauguration. I remember odd things about it. Kennedy and Eisenhower wore top hats. I thought they looked Abraham Lincolnish, maybe even a bit silly. I remember Robert Frost reading one of his poems and having difficulty in the sun. I don’t remember the inaugural speech, but I do remember Kennedy’s hands punctuating his words in the air. The “Ask not…” part of his speech was the most quoted. It would be one of the reasons I joined the Peace Corps.

The Peace Corps, early on, was advertised on television as PSA’s commercials. The toughest job you’ll ever love became a Peace Corps slogan. I watched each time one was on knowing, with certainty, I would be going. I was in the eighth grade for the election and was a freshman in high school when I was first interested on the Peace Corps. I remember my father watching the Peace Corps ads and saying,” After four years of college, what a waste of two years. Who would do that?” I sat there saying nothing, but in my head, I was thinking, “I would.”

Growing up, I had two dreams, two promises, I held on to for years. The first I made in the sixth grade when I vowed to travel the world, to out-travel Marty Barrett. The second, to join the Peace Corps, I made in the eighth grade. Both dreams came true years later. How lucky my life has been.