My clean kitchen floor lasted less than one day. Last night it started raining around 10:30. The thunder followed. I expect there was lightning, but I didn’t see it. This morning is sunny and bright with a deep blue sky and not even a small breeze. The high today will be 69˚.

When I was a kid, we had a family doctor. He was such a big man he never could quite reach the top of his desk without stretching his arms. A full skeleton hanging from a hook was behind him. He wasn’t gentle or reassuring. My mother took me there after I had fallen down the stairs and had a big cut under my chin. He wiped the cut clean, and it hurt, a whole lot of hurt. He told me to sit still. I did. He scared me a bit.

I like cabbage but not Brussels sprouts. I like green beans but not beans. I love sweatshirts but only if they have pouches. Otherwise, where would I put my hands? I like flip flops but not sandal straps between my toes. I love ice cream but not any with nuts unless they are on the top. I love movies but not romantic movies. Give me a good monster, and I’m happy. I like a drink every now and then, but it can’t taste like alcohol. I prefer plain water. I like waffles but not pancakes. I never put ketchup on my hot dogs. That it is just so wrong. I love fried clams, but they must have bellies. I hate crooked pictures. They drive my sensibilities crazy. I don’t mind holes in my socks, even the toes. I just fold the tops over when I put on my shoes. I don’t drink milk unless I’m having cereal. I like jam but not jelly. I love pickles of all sorts but not olives. I’m a fruit lover, but I don’t like cherries or fruits with fur like peaches. Give me all sorts of berries but keep your raspberries. I don’t like Will Farrell, but I never miss Elf. Give me a cold day rather than a hot. I always contend you can get warm easily but not cold. I don’t drink hot tea, only ice tea.

It seems my life is built on contradictions.

The early morning was foggy. Yesterday’s clouds are still hanging around, but the sun should break through. It will be in the mid 60’s today. I have to go to Hyannis. I’ll pack later.

Nala trash picked again yesterday. I’ll have to take my prisoner’s stick into the backyard and do clean-up. Nala had chewed a hole in the trash bag and was running outside with her booty when I heard a can drop.

We always had Crayola crayons in the house. Every Christmas and sometimes at Easter we’d get a new pack. The Christmas pack was always the biggest. I remember the pack of 64 crayons. It had every color in the world, or at least I thought so. We seldom threw out any crayons. Pieces were kept in a cigar box. As the crayons got smaller, we’d tear off the papers, and the fancy color names were gone. All the crayons became simple colors like blue or green or red. We didn’t miss the nuances of the colors.

One time, when I was around twelve or thirteen, I was with my brother in a car. I was in the front seat. He was in the back. I don’t remember whose car it was. We passed a police car which was on the side of the road. My brother told me to bark out the window. That seemed silly but harmless enough. It wasn’t. The cop chased us and pulled us over. He was really angry. We got lectured. I found out later the cop had killed a dog. He didn’t appreciate the barking.

My second weird encounter with an officer of the law was once when I was coming home from Boston. I was in the back seat with a dog, a puppy of about six months. The driver got stopped for speeding by a state police officer. The officer came over to the car and started questioning all of us. He wanted to know if the dog had a license. I told him no as the dog was a puppy, and she didn’t need one. I also said she wasn’t driving, the wrong thing to say, but I was annoyed. He didn’t like my answer and wanted to know my name. I said Ryan why? He started lecturing me about respect and called me Miss Why during the entire lecture. Every time he did the two people in the front seat laughed so hard the seat shook. Finally we were allowed to keep driving. I wanted to go right to the police barracks to lodge a complaint. The dog questions were odd and a bit over the top, but I suppose I just should have been thankful the puppy didn’t get a ticket for riding without a license.