Mother Nature was a tease yesterday. The temperature got to 59˚. I wanted 60˚, a small hope, a single degree hope. I did get sun and some blue sky so I suppose I ought not to complain. I’ll have to remember that today as we will have the same weather as yesterday. Right now it is 47˚, spring morning cold. It will be in the mid 50’s later, shorts and tank top weather for sure.

When I was growing up, I was a busy kid. I was a Girl Scout. I started in the second grade as a brownie. We met every week. The best part was I could wear my brownie uniform to school. I had everything a brownie wore: the uniform, the beanie with the girl scout symbol in an orangey gold on the front and the change purse also with the brownie symbol. It hung from the belt. I was really proud when I wore my uniform. A few years later I flew up to girl scout. That’s what they call it, flying up. My uniform was a white blouse, a green skirt, a girl scout hat with the trefoil symbol on the front and a sash which became covered in badges. I was a Girl Scout for ten years. It was a big ceremony when some of us got our ten year pins. Both my parents were there.

I joined St. Patrick’s drill team when I was ten. We had practice every Saturday at the armory where we learned the basics of marching. I had fun though sometimes we weren’t supposed to. At one point our instructor, John Kelly, told us we were ready to join the senior drill team. We had practice once a week in winter and twice a week in summer, sometimes even Sunday mornings before a competition. We had competition all summer, some Friday nights but mostly Sunday afternoons. It was huge commitment, but I loved being part of the drill team and still have friends dating from those long ago days.

I had other loves as I grew older. I loved acting, and we did one act plays at my school. We even competed. Though we never won anything, I did get a jar with a preserved embryo of a pig, a gift from a science teacher.

I’ve been the president of the library board. That lasted years. I took tap dancing lessons. I knew all the steps but that barely translated from my head to my feet. Now I’m still learning the uke which I love playing. I have little or no musical ability. I know all the chords now, but my head doesn’t always translate well to my fingers. Today I have another concert.

When I woke up this morning, the blue had only a small piece of the sky. Clouds covered the rest. The forecast is for clouds and a high of 55˚, but that little glimpse of blue made me hopeful. The sun popped out for a bit then disappeared only to reappear a little while later. I hope the sun wins despite the forecast.

My memory drawers are overflowing. I make new memories all the time while the old memories are still there vying for space. I can recall exact moments. If I close my eyes, I can see those moments as if they are newsreels of my life.

My mother told me about an encounter when I was about three. We were on the elevator in the Sears building near Kenmore when a Black lady entered. That was the first time I ever saw a Black person. I asked my mother what was wrong with her. The woman started a tirade and called us racists and other choice names all peppered with swears. I didn’t remember the encounter, but my mother told me we, the three of us, were the only people on the elevator. She said I was scared and so was she. The woman kept screaming at me and my mother. When the elevator stopped so people could get on, my mother hustled me off so quickly I almost couldn’t keep up. We left the building.

I do remember one encounter. My uncle, only a couple of years older than I, and my brother were at the subway station waiting for the train. We were going to the pool near Storrow Drive. My brother and uncle were a bit away from me on the platform. A man approached me. I remember he had rotten teeth and a straw hat. He asked me if I wanted gum. I said yes so he told me to go with him, and he’d give me my gum. All those warnings my mother used to give jumped into my head, and I bolted away from him. When I told my uncle, he didn’t believe me. I never told my mother.