Today is cloudy and a bit hot at 78˚, the high for the day. Tomorrow it will be rainy so I guess today is a sort of dress rehearsal with humidity and clouds, but no rain. I did the dump run yesterday. The dump was so crowded I had to ride around twice to get a spot at the recycle bins. My trunk was filled with heavy, spent litter bags. They had to be dragged then hefted and thrown over the sides of the green, metal bin. Sometimes, almost involuntarily, I grunted at the weight of the bags as I threw them. It wasn’t pretty.

Today will be less exciting than yesterday. I have uke practice tonight for an hour. That’s it, my only commitment to the day, my only reason to have to get dressed. Today would have been a perfect sloth day, a day dedicated to wearing cozies, to doing no work and to lazing the day away.

I remember weather days like this when I was a kid, totally cloudy days. The playground was open at nine but not in the rain so because we spent day at the playground doing crafts, playing games like checkers and softball, our mantra, actually our nursery rhyme, for the day was rain, rain, go away, which now, in hindsight, sort of makes no sense. It wasn’t raining, but anyway, on a cloudy day we hoped for just clouds, a reprieve from the sun.

Whenever we went to the beach, my face got sunburned over the tan. I had to wear a tee shirt so my back and shoulders wouldn’t get burnt. My mother always packed tee shirts, and by afternoon, we were all wearing tee shirts. My mother had reached the sun limit. I didn’t mind.

I went out on the deck to retrieve something Nala had stolen from the kitchen. It was a paper towel which Nala didn’t seem to like. It was left mostly intact. I looked over the bannister and saw a paper plate which must have been with paper towel. It had been flattened. I remembered I had pizza on that plate and had left it on the counter in case I wanted another piece of pizza. I don’t remember it going missing. I must have moved on to something else.

Last night the two dogs were driving me crazy. They were chasing each other around the house from room to room, and they’d stop on the couch to eat each other’s faces low growling all the time, all in fun. I kept throwing them off the couch, and they kept coming back. Finally, I used the magic word, dinner. They both stopped, looked attentive and ran to the kitchen. All of a sudden, I had a memory flash. I remembered our magic word was supper, and we pretty much had the same reaction to our word. That’s sort of interesting in an odd sort of way.

The morning is warmer than it has been. It is already 76˚, but not so far from the predicted high of 77˚. It is cloudy and will be cloudy on and off all day. The slight breeze is cooling on my back. The dogs are playing with new toys and each other. Usually they are napping by now. My plans for the day include a dump run later in the afternoon. My car is filled with trash bags, many of them filled with cat litter. Tonight is Magic Music Monday with the uke club. The theme is Get Together.

Yesterday my cousin Mitch and his wife Kelly came to visit Nala. They gave her to me to love when they knew that Nala would continue to attack their older and bigger boxer, Kyrie. They feared for Nala. Kelly brought toys and treats for both dogs. Nala was excited to see them. Henry was amazing. After his initial hesitancy, he let both of them pat him and scratch his back. Henry has come a long way. They thought Nala had grown and looked wonderful.

When I was a kid, I seldom wore a watch. It is the same now. I have watches, all needing batteries, in my bureau drawer. I only wear one when I’m traveling. My favorite is the one my mother gave me on my 50th birthday. It has a red leather strap and the watch is silver. I have another, the traditional gold watch though mine is green befitting the school colors, from the school district when I retired. The others were bought along the way.

I don’t need a watch. I make sure I’m where I need to be on time, actually a bit early. I hate to be late. I had a friend who was always late, even to my house for dinner. I used to give her an earlier time, a lie, as to when she was expected to be here. She was still late. I started serving dinner without her. She was put out. I had no sympathy.

When I was a kid, I wore socks all winter. Some had holes. I didn’t care, but my mother did so I made sure I wore socks with holes you couldn’t see. The older socks had no elastic left, and they bunched at my ankles which reminded me of my grandmother. Her hose was always bunched around her slippers. Sometimes my socks slid into my shoes. That was like walking on rocks. I’d stop and pull up my socks a few times on the way to school. I still have socks with holes. Sometimes I don’t even hide the holes. I don’t care if anyone sees them. I am becoming or maybe have become an eccentric old lady.