The spiders are back. That may sound like the come-on for a cheesy science fiction movie, but it isn’t. Webs are everywhere, between fronds on plants, on furniture, especially between chair legs, and even in the corners of the stairs. I clear them every time I go upstairs, but that is a useless task, a task more for Sisyphus. This happens every August, but I forget and am both surprised and annoyed when the webs appear. I think of Charlotte and her webs, but my spiders are not clever. I think they are illiterate. They are Miss Havisham spiders.

Last night was strange. The dogs were out a long time. That is never good. I called and Henry came, no Nala. I waited then decided to check on her so I grabbed a sweatshirt as it was cold and my flashlight. Once I was in the yard, she came running and was panting and jumping, excited. I figured she’d found a critter. I grabbed her and she shook me off. I got the leash and was able to catch her and leash her. About an hour later, I thought it was safe so I let them out just before bedtime. Nala didn’t come when I called. I went back into the yard then I heard her on the deck and leashed her again. This morning she went right to the same spot. Nothing was there.

When I was a kid, our boxer Duke wandered everywhere in the days before leash laws. He was fearless, and he was stubborn. One time a neighbor called and begged for help. Duke and his son Sam were around the doors of her house, and she couldn’t get out. They’d run to the door trying to get in when she tried to get out. Her dog was in heat and they knew it. My father went and got them. He was not happy and neither were the dogs.

If we had a barbecue when I was young, it was always hot dogs and hamburgers. My mother also cooked corn and made potato salad and peppers and eggs and served chips in the tulip bowl. For dessert it was always watermelon. My father cooked. Toward the end he’d ask who wanted a cheeseburger then he’d add yellow squares of American cheese to the burger. He also toasted the buns.

When we were older, barbecues were a bit more sophisticated. My mother still made potato salad and maybe peppers and eggs, but we never had hot dogs and hamburgers. We had steak tips and sausages, Chinese and Italian, sometimes chicken, ribs or kielbasa. We’d all sit around the kitchen table to eat. I loved sitting around that table and eating supper with my family.

Today the high will be 79°, somehow that sounds so much better than 80°. It will be partly cloudy. I still wonder why it is never partly sunny.

I need to be outside enjoying the cool, sunny morning. It is only 72°. For a Saturday, it is unusually quiet. I can hear birds singing and an occasional bark from across the street. Even Henry is quiet.

The other night I went outside with the dogs before bed. They roamed the yard. I stayed on the deck. Over my head swooped a bat. I ducked. I marveled at the first time I’ve seen a bat in the yard.

The older I get, the more words I seem to lose. I can see in my mind’s eye the picture of what the word is so I am patient hoping the picture catches up with the word. Most times it does.

My dance card this week has been filled with uke. The only ukeless day was Thursday. I had a concert Monday, yesterday, and I have another today. On Sunday I will rest.

If you had told me when I was a kid I would be a musician, I would have laughed. That I would travel the world was more believable; yet, here I am uke in hand playing music and accompanying myself. I mostly sing off key but with great enthusiasm.

I always think my greatest achievement when I was a kid was learning to read. Tying my shoes was second. Those loops weren’t easy. My mother bought a book a week at the supermarket. There were a couple of novels in each book. I read every book. They were abridged, but I didn’t know that until later. Most were classics. I remember Tom Sawyer. Those books were in the same bookcase as the supermarket encyclopedia. Our supermarket didn’t just feed us. We got a whole set of dishes, serving pieces included, and those books.

When I was in Ghana, I read all the time, in between and after classes, at night and when I traveled. I was blessed. I was given a Peace Corps book locker which the Peace Corps no longer gave volunteers. It was made of heavy cardboard, and when closed, took the shape of a small locker. When opened, there were two sides each with two shelves. My book locker was filled. The treasures inside included The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I flew through those books. I was oblivious to the world around me. I stayed in Middle Earth.

The second blessing was my town had a library and not just any library. It was designed by Davis Brody. It was only two years old when I arrived in Bolga. The form and shape of the building resembled the compounds of the FraFra, the local tribe. I loved spending time in that library. I’d go through the stacks and sit for a while at one of the tables. It was there I found British mysteries and Ngaio Marsh, a mystery writer from New Zealand.

Since my retirement, I have had unfettered time for reading. I am again blessed.

The morning is lovely. A slight breeze is keeping the air cool. It is in the mid 70’s now, but tonight will drop to the high 50’s. Over the weekend, though, the heat will be back with temperatures in the 80’s. I’d complain but that seems silly. It is, after all, August, our hottest month.

When I was a kid, August had a dual personality. It is my birthday month so I was excited, but August also meant school was close. My fun days were numbered. To add to the end of summer misery, we school shopped. Sometimes I needed a new blue skirt and white blouse, my uniform, but I always needed new shoes and school supplies. I had to pick out my lunchbox. I remember an Annie Oakley lunch box. She was riding her horse and shooting. My shoes were sturdy, tie shoes, and meant to last most of the year so I only wore them to school. My supplies included a pencil box, usually made of cardboard with different sections inside holding pencils, an eraser, a small ruler, a pencil sharpener, small colored pencils, sometimes glue, and a plastic triangle which I used only for tracing, My mother added a small pack of Crayola crayons and a few notebooks, the sort with the spiral middles. If I tore a page from the notebook, small pieces of papers were all over my desk and the floor. My school bag choice took a while. When I was younger, I had one that was square, opened with buckles and had a strap for over the shoulder. When I was older, I had one of those green bags with water proofing inside which had a strap you pulled then you carried the bag over your shoulder. That was the last piece of my school shopping.

School always started the Tuesdays after Labor Day. We took our baths on Monday night and went to bed early. My mother had to wake us up early. That was, to me, the official end of summer.