Today is another delight. It is already over 50˚. The breeze is sight and barely moves even the smallest branches. The dogs have been out for a while. They love this weather, and they’d better get their fill today as 3.3 inches of snow are predicted for tomorrow, yup 3.3. I’m going out for a bit this afternoon as I need gas, cat food and some safe for paws deicer.

Nala did her perp walk out the dog door so I investigated. Even though I was but a minute behind her she was already running the yard with her booty in her mouth. Come too find out she had one of her favorite toys. I pretended to chase her, and she looped the yard four or five times with the toy in her mouth. While I was out there, I saw my gourd in the back of the yard. I hadn’t even missed it. When I got it, the string attaching it to the table leg for safety was still on the gourd. It must have been stolen by a master thief.

I find myself a bit bored. I read, play online games, swipe dust with my sweatshirt sleeve and rearrange tables and such. Yesterday’s lunch was a wonderful break in my routine. I got to see friends and enjoyed a great meal. I was treated to lunch by my friend Charlie.

When I was a kid, I don’t think I ever stayed home on a Saturday. In winter it was the matinee at the only theater in town or ice skating at the park or the swamp. In warmer weather I’d explore on my bike. I’d ride all over town to new spots and favorite spots. I’d stop to greet the horses in the town stable, ride by the golf course looking for balls and sometimes ride beside the tracks where there was a path. In summer I’d often go to the pool, walking in both directions, or to the swamp where I’d check out the frogs and wander to the back of the swamp jumping from one solid spot to another in trying to keep my sneakers dry. On my excursions, I usually brought my lunch, a sandwich, probably bologna, on soft white bread, Wonder bread I’m thinking, and some cookies for dessert. If I was lucky, there were still Oreos in the cabinet, the best traveling dessert. I’d be gone almost all of the afternoon.

Saturday night we ate our usual dinner of hot dogs, beans and brown bread, a dinner enjoyed by almost every kid I knew. The last ritual for Saturday night was a bath forced on us whether we were dirty or not.

Today will get as high as 48˚. It is already over 40˚. The sun is bright, the sky cerulean blue. I don’t see a single cloud. Blue goes as far as my eyes can see. Not even the smallest branches are moving. Everything is quiet. Today is a delight.

When I was a kid, I used to jump rope mostly at recess. All over one side of the schoolyard were pockets of jumpers. Back then, boys and girls pretty much stayed on separate sides of the schoolyard, not by dictate, just custom. The boys got the basketball hoops. We tried to get one of the hoops, but the nuns said they were for the boys. That was the end of it. You argued with a nun at your own peril.

Today would have been the day we made our Valentine boxes in school. We had to bring in a shoe box or something around the same size to decorate. The box needed a cover. I remember first making the hole in the cover for the valentines then cutting out construction paper hearts in pink and red and glueing them to the box with enough white glue to cover the world. I’d press the heart to the box so it would stick, and white glue would burst out the sides of the heart. I’d wipe the excess with my fingers which then stayed sticky and stuck to one another. I remember making frills with crepe paper, a talent I’d use later on when I made decorative frills for the bone tops of my crown roasts. We’d finish our boxes and place them on window sills to dry and to wait for the big day.

My mother took us shopping for boxes of valentines. We didn’t give them to everybody back then which made for some angst. The valentines had colorful fronts with fun sayings. The boys could buy some with cowboys or sailors. I remember sitting at the kitchen table signing the valentines and putting names on envelopes. My whole name never fit on the back.

Nala stole nothing yesterday. Jack got bored with me again. He got up on the table to lie down. I was sitting on the bed. Jack is getting braver. He sits on the stairs while Nala sits at the bottom of the stairs and stares at him. Henry was his usual self yesterday.

I am entering more of the world today. I’m meeting friends for lunch. Since the time of covid, I have had meals delivered but haven’t been out to eat. I’m going to Hyannis, the big city.