The early morning was chilly, but the air is getting warmer. The high will be in the low 70’s, almost winter weather compared with the scorching highs of last week. The sky is partly sunny. I can see blue toward the west. The trees are quiet in the still air.

I have a couple of errands today, mostly Agway errands. The gate keeping Nala out of Jack’s room was pushed inward by Miss Nala who then sneaked inside and stole all the cat treats and everything in the bowls, twice. Foolishly, I thought I had secured the gate after the first theft. I was wrong. I forgot I was dealing with Nala, stealthy Nala. She made off with her bounty, I didn’t even know until I went on the deck and saw the yard littered with pet food papers. Nala was running around with a big bag of Temptations. I knew not to chase her and just waited. Finally, seeing my disinterest, she dropped the bag and I saved what was left. Later I grabbed my prisoner stick and cleaned the yard.

I liked school. I loved to learn. It never really bothered me when school started. By then, I had filled the summer.

When I was a kid, clothes didn’t really matter. I wore shorts, a blouse and sneakers all summer. I just grabbed what was in my bureau drawers. I never gave matching a thought until I was older. Comfort was the overriding reason for my choices. I have come full circle. Comfort again rules my choice of clothing, but at least now the colors match.

My mother would have been 95 today. She was my first thought when I woke up. I still miss her and sometimes forget she is gone when I think to call her about something or another. Then I remember, and the sadness comes.

The day is ugly. The sky is filled with clouds. Showers are predicted.

Yesterday it rained for a few hours. I sat under the deck umbrella staying dry and watching the rain. I was delighted. After the rain, the day was quite cool but horribly humid. This morning, everything is still wet, and it spat rain for a while, an intermittent windshield wiper rain. I went out for coffee, and it was 66° then. It felt chilly. Hurrah! for chilly.

This morning, a couple of my mother’s sayings jumped out of my memory drawers. I was thinking of her because tomorrow would have been her 95th birthday. Anyway, if she caught any of us picking our noses she would ask, “Are you mining for gold?” If you whined and felt the world was against you, she would describe you as a sorrowful mystery, a bit of rosary trivia. That one is still used in my family though I suspect its religious origin might be hazy. It was from my mother is what we mostly remember.

My dance card is empty until Monday’s concert, songs of the 70’s. After that we have only one more Monday concert in the park. The summer is winding down at a quick pace. I almost feel the urge to buy school clothes.

My first grade teacher was Sister Redempta. She scared the heck out of me. If you did something wrong, she’d run down the aisle, her habit blowing behind her and let you have it. She’d yell right to your face. I remember kids crying after her onslaught.

My favorite teacher in elementary school was my sixth grade teacher Miss Quilter. I remember she wore thick glasses and appropriately modest dresses. She woke in me a love of learning. I will always be grateful to her.

I’m still binging on black and white movies from the 50’s. I’m now watching Attack of the Crab Monsters. It is wonderfully bad. The crab has eyes which don’t move, and it appears to be on a track as it has only forward mobility. The Professor is one of the actors. He is a radio operator. The only woman wears sweaters, as tight as the 50’s will allow, and what looks like capri pants. She makes all the meals, but she did scuba dive looking for the crab and followed the men into the cave on a rescue mission which failed. She ran fast out of that cave. The weirdest thing is the crab talks in the voices of its victims. At the end, the Professor sacrificed himself to kill the crab. Only one man and the woman in the sweater survived. I love this movie.