The morning is lovely. It is still cool in the house from last night. The blue sky stretches across without a single cloud. The sun is bright. Nothing is moving. The day will be hot, in the 80’s. I have no errands or chores to do. I have been busy. The deck flowers are all planted and the deck is clean of debris. I declare today a well-deserved sloth day. I’m thinking I’ll just stay on the deck and read the day away.

When I was a kid, I had everything I needed. For winter I had ice skates and a sled. For summer I had roller skates, the kind you tightened to your shoes, and my bike. The ice skates were easy, just put them on, tighten and skate, but my roller skates sometimes came loose, usually only one at a time, so I had to keep lifting my foot and the skate until I could sit, usually on the curb, and reattach the skate. I learned sneakers didn’t hold the skates too well so I wore my old school shoes. I used to skate on the parking lot at the top of the hill, but if I was brave, I’d ride down the hilly sidewalk. Grass bordered the sidewalk on both sides so when I fell, and fell I did, the grass cushioned my fall.

When I moved into my house, my mother brought down some treasures for me. One was a small chair my father’s uncle had made for me. My mother told me I was three when he gave it to me. It is still in my bedroom. I have three Fanny Farmer chicken egg cups, two have broken beaks. My mother used to make soft-boiled eggs for our breakfasts. She’d toast bread and cut it so the pieces were just the right size to dip into the eggs cradled in those egg cups. She also brought down my books: my Bobbsey Twins, my Trixie Beltons, my Nancy Drews and some of the classics I loved to read like Heidi, Treasure Island, Black Beauty, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates and my all time favorite, The Wind in the Willows. I bought a bookcase and filled it with those treasures. That’s when my house became my home.

The morning is hot, 84˚, already. I was on the deck for a short while but decided I preferred the cool house. The dogs came inside with me. They are lolling on the couch napping. I am watching a really bad science fiction movie. Aliens have arrived. Let’s shoot them down. Their spaceships which have traveled across the broad expense of the universe will be no match for our bombs.

I haven’t a list for today. I have an item. All the hauling, carrying and planting of the last few days has my back complaining so I’ll just water my outside plants and then call it a day.

When I was a kid, the summer seemed endless. Every day was mine to do anything I wanted. I never stayed home. Some days I was at the park. Other days I hiked to the zoo and spent the whole day. The pool was a long way from my house, but it didn’t matter. I walked there and back. My bike transported me anywhere I wanted to go, close or faraway. The furthest I ever rode was to East Boston to visit my grandparents. They were surprised when my brother and I showed up. My grandfather called my mother. I could hear her scream. We left immediately.

Since I was little, I have been a science fiction fan. I read all the science fiction books my library had to offer. All these years later, I still remember where those books were. They were on shelves behind the librarian’s desk in a tall bookcase. Most were about space travel. I don’t remember reading about aliens. They came later.

I watched every science fiction black and white movie from the 50’s I could find. That’s when the aliens appeared. Few were friendly. Most wanted Earth. I know now they had few specials effects, but it didn’t matter back then. It doesn’t even matter now. I still love those movies.

I was in Ghana for the moon landing. It was during training when we were living with our Ghanaian families. Every day we, my language group and our language instructor, met for lunch and a Hausa lesson. That day we knew to turn on the radio to listen to Voice of America’s broadcast of the moon landing. We heard it all. We heard Neil Armstrong announce his big step. Even from the radio it was exciting. We cheered.