Today is a delight. Today is a spring day. It is already 57˚ and will get to the low 60’s, long sleeve shirt weather for sure. I have no errands or chores so I’m thinking today is a perfect sloth day. I’ll sit outside for a bit, take in the sun and watch the dogs chase each other in the yard.

Nala’s ear is just about healed. The red too is almost gone from inside the ear. I’ve found that hiding her pills in a bit of banana works best.

When I was a kid, two of my favorite places up town were the library and the post office. Inside the post office it was always a bit dark and cooler than outside no matter how hot the day was. The clerks stood behind small windows with metal grates over the top. There was granite, at least I think it was granite, on the walls. The post office was built in 1940, and the only changes since then were new windows and a new double door, all meant to keep out the cold. Parking even back then was difficult to find on the street, but there is now a parking lot across from the post office where buildings used to be.

The library was build in 1903 with money donated by Andrew Carnegie. I didn’t know that until I was waiting for my father to pick me up one rainy day. There was a plaque inside where I was standing and waiting. The building is brick with a neat sloping roof and a cupola on top. It was one story with two rooms, one for kids and the other for adults. I used to go the library so often I ran out of books I liked to read so I didn’t have to wait until high school to go into the adult section. The librarian let me in early. I was in book heaven. There have been changes over the years but the library pretty much looks the same as when I was a kid.

My world now is expansive, but when I was young, my town was my world. The up town stores were all unique. I loved window shopping. The aroma of fresh bread wafted through the square from Hank’s Bakery. I could smell popcorn. I watched lobsters swimming in the tank at the Gloucester Fish Market. The stores on one side were long and narrow where there was a lunch counter and a men’s store.

All those stores now exist only in memories, old memories.