The morning is downright cold. It is only 30˚. The high will be 37˚. That sounds like deck weather. As if…

We have a pretty day with lots of bright sun, just not a warm sun. The air is clear. Everything looks highlighted by the sun. I can see through the tangle of pine branches in the back yard to the blue sky beyond. The dogs have been out a while. They enjoy this weather.

When I was a kid, we all gave up something for Lent. Most of us kids chose chocolate having very little else to give up. I rarely made it all through Lent. When I was contemplating eating the forbidden chocolate, I negotiated with myself to lessen the guilt. It helped.

I loved walking to school in the mornings this time of year. The cold felt temporary. My footsteps echoed in the still mornings. My friend and I chatted the whole way. It wasn’t a long walk to school: down the hill, around the corner to the straightaway which ended at the stop sign just on the corner down from school. We looked down both sides then crossed the street. The playground was behind the school. That’s where we waited for the nun to ring the bell, the time to line-up bell.

My school was old. It had no electric bells. It had bellringers. They were in the eighth grade on the top floor. They rang the bell in the hall so all the floors could hear it. I remember my first grade class, what it looked like, where I sat. It was on the first floor. I remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Kerrigan. She was old or at least she looked old to me. She had grey hair and dressed like my grandmother. She lived in an apartment in an old house across from the church. My third grade class was in the cellar of the rectory. We didn’t have desks. We had tables. By fourth grade, we were in double sessions. The school was overloaded with kids. There were no places to put us so they started building the new school, which was all we called it even after it was old. For the fifth grade, while we waited for the new school, we were bussed to a school a town over as they had space. I never minded the buses. We were patient. The bus rides meant less time in the classroom. Nobody complained. By mid-winter, the new school was ready. We moved in. My class was on the first floor near the door. The school was shiny. It had electric bells.

The morning has started late for me. I let the dogs out early then I went back to bed. The dogs joined me. The one ring of the front doorbell woke us all up. It was my neighbor, and he was quite patient while I shooed Henry a couple of times then I opened the door. My neighbor had my overflowing mail from yesterday and today’s newspaper. I thanked him for his kindness. He always calls me Miss Kat.

The day is cloudy grey but warm without the wind. Today’s forecast calls for rain and snow with a high of 53˚ and a low of 22˚. The craziness of March weather continues. (It started pouring then it stopped.)

When I was a kid, a rainy, ugly Saturday meant being stuck in the house, my bike parked in the cellar. Sometimes I’d read in bed. It was quiet in my room. The only sounds were the rain drops against the window at the foot of my bed. Other Saturdays I’d watch the old science fiction movies from the 50’s. I still love those movies. The other day I watched Attack of the Crab Monsters. It was so wonderfully awful I bought it and two more Roger Corman’s for cheap money on E-Bay. I’m thinking a grand return, a red carpet event, to movies on the deck.

When I visited them for the weekend, Saturday nights at my parents’ house were always fun nights. My Uncle Jack always came. The kitchen was the center of activity. My mother served appies and had snacks like chips on the table. The small side of the counter was the bar. The card game was usually Hi-Lo Jack. At my parents’ table it got cutthroat. Sometimes there was music with the whole kitchen crowd singing. My uncle sang Bing Crosby songs. He always fancied himself a bit of a Bing. We all did too.

Tomorrow is a uke concert at the mall for St. Patrick’s Day. I’ll be bedecked and adorned in lots of green and shamrocks. I’ll be the one in the blinking green glasses and the shamrock fascinator.