Today is ugly. The morning is dark. A strong wind is whipping everything back and forth, even the big limbs still covered in leaves are being tossed. I can hear that wind. Rain is predicted.

I remember Dick and Jane and their little sister Sally and who could forget Spot and Puff. I was in the first grade. They were in my first reader, Fun with Dick and Jane. Jane wore dresses all the time, frilly dresses. She had blonde hair sometimes tied with red ribbons. They never did anything once, “Run, run, Dick, run,” said Sally. “Look, Jane, look, look, see Dick.” Even the pets talked in doubles. Sometimes we’d read the books out loud as a class. We sounded sing-songy. Other times the nun would call one of us to read. I remember using my finger under the words so I could kept track. The books got boring quickly. We could read run runs and looks and sees only a few times. It was then we’d move on to another book with Dick and Jane. Each book had new words to learn, bigger words. I don’t remember when we were done with Dick and Jane, but I do remember different readers, bigger books with individual stories and questions at the end of each. The stories were actually interesting, and the questions were easy. They were in the same order as the story. They were usually homework.

The other lesson I remember is learning how to use the dictionary. That words were in the same order as the alphabet was the first thing we learned. I remember the guide words at the top of each page. That was the big lesson. We had work sheets with words, and we had to find the guide words for each of them. The test we had was the same. I loved my dictionaries. I used to open a page at random and look for new words. I kept a paperback dictionary near my bed so I could look up words I didn’t know when I was reading before going to sleep. I still have my red covered Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. The pages have begun to yellow.

In Ghana, I used to teach my students fun sounding words. Their favorite was bamboozle. I remember a history teacher asking me if I had taught them that word because it appeared in several essays. It seems the British bamboozled the Ashanti.

My dance card this week has my regular uke events, my practice and lesson, and also two concerts. I have a doctor’s appointment today, just a regular check-up. During the rest of the week I might vacuum and dust though I’m hesitant as I don’t want to risk my inner sloth.

Today is a lovely fall day. The sun is staying around. It was missing most of the week hidden by rain and clouds. Everything is glinting in the light, especially the leaves dangling from the lower branches. The sky is a light blue. The breeze is every now and then. It is 57°, the high for the day. The weekend will be a pretty one.

My dance card still has two events, today and tomorrow. I didn’t post yesterday because of the concert and may not post tomorrow for the same reason. I have to be in Hyannis at eleven thirty. This has been the busiest week I can remember in a long time. I’m tired.

When I was a kid, life was easy. During the week was school. Every day was the same. When my mother woke me up, she already had breakfast ready. The menu mostly depended on the weather, but I could count on my cup of cocoa and my brother’s tea, served in a pot. Sometimes we had eggs with toast while on cold days we often had oatmeal. My mother did her best to beat down the oatmeal lumps, but a few sneaked through. I didn’t care. I never ate naked oatmeal. Mine was always drowning in milk and covered in sugar. Once in a while I’d add cinnamon. After breakfast it was time to get dressed. I didn’t have to choose my clothes. I wore my uniform, but I did get to pick my socks. Sometimes I wore short socks, but in the cold I often wore knee socks. My friend and I walked to school together, the same way every day. I loved that walk. The straightaway was on a sidewalk with branches overhead. The sunlight was here and there. We’d sometimes jump from spot to spot. We’d cross the street, and school was right there. We’d wait in the schoolyard for the bell.

I was a dreamer. I didn’t plan day to day, but I did plan for when I was older. I knew I’d go to college, the first to go in my extended family. I knew I’d see the world. No one in my family traveled far, but I knew I would. I never doubted that my dreams would come true.

After Ghana, the first trip I made was to Europe. I went to Finland then on to Russia. I’ll never forget that trip. I ate reindeer in the Arctic Circle when it was midnight sun time. I took a train from Helsinki to Leningrad. Only three of us were on the through car. It got dis-attached from the Finnish train and added to the Russian train. One uniformed train person stayed in the car. She gave us tea, lots of tea served in clear glass cups.

I always think myself lucky. My life has been interesting. It has been all I dreamed it would be.