The mornings are chilly, but the days gets warmer. It’s flannel shirt weather. I was out yesterday doing errands. Today I’ll be out again. This has been a busy week.

When I was ten, I got a new bicycle as a Christmas present. I remember going down the stairs, peeking over the bannister and seeing my bike beside the tree. I ran down the rest of the stairs. I couldn’t wait to try on my new blue bike. It fit perfectly. Later, after I got dressed, my mother had me take my bike outside where I stood at the top of the steps while she took pictures. I am smiling in everyone of them. My bike had a front wire basket. If I carried anything, whatever it was would bounce when I went over a bump. One time I had to stop to retrieve a loaf of bread which had bounced all the way out of the basket. It was dented just a bit. White bread did that back then. I loved riding that bike, and I remember finally learning to ride with no hands. I was so proud. I’d pedal with my hands folded on my chest and hoped the world would see me. I think I even waved a couple of times, sort of like the Queen’s wave.

I loved my mother’s brownies. They were pure chocolate. She’d frost them with chocolate frosting then sprinkle them with jimmies. I remember she baked her brownies in a square metal pan. I always liked the edges.

My socks often slid into my shoes. I’d still walk anyway though there was a bit of a lump. When it finally got annoying enough, I’d pull the socks up by the tops. Old socks never stayed up. I still have a sock problem, but it has to do with holes. I hate to throw socks away especially if they look intact. The holes in my socks are hidden by my shoes. My toes hang out so I have to double over the tops of the socks. I get a socks’ lump.

In Ghana, I always wore sandals. At first, because of the dryness, the heels of my feet cracked which hurt so much I had to walk on tiptoes. I wondered if my students, many of whom hadn’t been so close to a white lady before, thought the walk was the way all white ladies walked. My ballerina days finally ended when my heels hardened. They were thick and ugly. I was glad.