This morning the house was colder than outside. I zapped on the heat for a while so now the house feels warm and cozy. I’m my cooler weather garb, a sweatshirt and my laze around the house light flannel pants in pink with penguins wearing winter knit hats, each with a red pompom.

I changed the dressing on my finger. I took off the makeshift bandage for the one from the doctor. My finger is ugly and still swollen mostly around the knuckle where it was fractured. The stitches wrap around from the bottom of the finger to just above the knuckle. They will make for an interesting scar. The pins are at the bottom of the finger. They are a pretty yellow.

The dogs are out. Nala finds the sun and lies down in the grass. Henry checks the yard, does his business and then comes inside for his bit of morning coffee. To complete their breakfasts this morning, each got a bite of English muffin and a small piece of banana.

On school mornings when I was a kid, breakfast was a hearty meal meant to fortify us for the walk to school and the wait until lunch. My mother made a hot breakfast for us. On the table was always a teapot with the strings of teabags hanging from under the lid. On the stove the water boiled for the cocoa. My brother was tea. I was cocoa. Sometimes we had oatmeal while other mornings we had eggs, always soft-boiled eggs with toast cut for dipping beside the egg cups and around the plates.

When I was working, I mostly just had coffee for breakfast though once in a while I’d stop for a sausage and egg sandwich. I drank coffee all morning.

In Ghana, I always had coffee, eggs fried in groundnut (peanut) oil and toast. All of it was cooked on a small, round charcoal burner. The smell of the burning wood filled the air with a sweetness. It wafted from my backyard and every house on school grounds and every compound outside the fence. That aroma is one of my favorite memories of Ghana.

Today is the perfect fall day. The breeze is slight. The sun glints through the trees still covered in leaves. It is warm at 62°. I don’t hear anything except the birds. It is a deck day, a day for enjoying the best of the season before it is gone. The nights are already cold.

I did a slight yard clean-up this morning. Nala came inside with an empty packet of cat treats in her mouth from her last foray into Jack’s room so I went outside to check. I found trash, empty cans of cat food and empty treat bags. I cleaned it up with my good hand.

When I was kid, the shorter days of autumn meant little time to play outside after school. The street lights came on during the early twilight so we had to go back into the house far sooner than we wanted. We’d turn on the TV and watch until supper. My mother always made us a supper of meat, potatoes and a vegetable. Those were the days she’d hide the mashed carrots in the potatoes. I thought mashed potatoes were sometimes orange. We’d finish eating and then watch more TV. My father seldom made it home from work in time for supper. In my mind’s eye, I can see him coming in the front door framed by darkness, his fedora on his head.

My dance card has yellowed and is brittle. I went out yesterday, but it doesn’t count. It was an errand. I needed milk for my cereal, eggs, cat food and cat treats, and I treated myself to a Snickers bar and each dog to a biscuit in the shape of a fire hydrant which I think neither dog has ever seen so neither understood the significance.

I have nothing planned for today or even the rest of the week. I’ll read, watch a few movies, nap and make something pumpkin.