The morning is damp, cloudy and a bit chilly. It will be warm today, around 76˚, and we are almost there at 75˚, but the air still holds the dampness. A breeze blows leaves and high branches and is helping to keep the day a bit cool. I have no plans for outside today. I have a list, an inside list. The laundry needs to come up from the dryer as it has been there long enough for everything to wrinkle. The kitchen floor is covered in muddy dog prints all the way from the door down the hall. I’ll do a quick mopping. When I walk into the cats’ room, it sounds as if I’m walking on the beach with all the sand the cats kick out of the litter boxes. Vacuuming is on the list. I’m also thinking a nap might be a great idea.

My eye is still mending. One side is painful, but it mostly hurts only if I look to the right. Okay, time for a fun question: why would I look to the right if it hurts?

One afternoon in Ghana, there was knock on my front door. The door was open to the screen, and when I looked, I saw a man I didn’t know. I went to the door and asked him what he wanted. He said an American woman, me. I told him no. He then asked me if I knew any Canadian women. Again, I said no. He said thank you and left. Ghanaians are quite polite.

My two years in Ghana were when Peace Corps was still young. The first volunteers went to Ghana in August of 1961, a few short months after Peace Corps was founded. When I got there in 1969, the Peace Corps was still evolving. We were told not to call them. They would call us. We could go wherever we wanted, even out off the country, without telling Peace Corps. I lived a long way from Accra, the capital of Ghana, so I went to north to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for weekends, sort of short vacations, but the country I loved to visit the most was Togo. Lomé is its capital. The city was filled with the most amazing shops. It had boulangerie pâtisseries. The windows were filled with bread and pastries. I salivated when I saw them.  I always bought gooey, wonderful desserts. Other shops sold crème glacée, ice cream. In Togo, French is the national language. I knew all the words for food in French. As for the rest, I was limited to hello, thank you, numbers for bartering and asking for directions though I didn’t always understand the answers. I was big on left and right, gauche et droite.

I can still order an entire meal in French.

Just as I woke up, the rain started but fell for only about five minutes. It left the morning damp, dark and still. I haven’t turned on any lights. The dark house is comforting in a strange way. The dogs ran the yard. Nala ran the perimeter. Henry ran to the brush, squatted then ran back again. My kitchen floor is filled with wet, dirty paw prints.

Today will be warm, 76˚. The low will be in the 60’s. All the windows are open. I can feel the dampness.

Last night was a wonderful evening. The first part was spent with catching up and grazing at the charcuterie board. I thought the board was artistic. My friend thought it beautiful; of course, I didn’t think to take a picture. The board was groaning, filled as it was with meat and cheese, spreads, cinnamon bread, cashews, crackers and gherkins. I rolled all the meat and cheese and covered watermelon with prosciutto. I used my new little bowls, well new last winter, and their bright colors enhanced the food and the board.

Next came the Christmas carols and presents. I was delighted with my presents. I will look through them again today. That is part of the fun of presents. Nala was delighted with the paper. She thought it a toy. We decided on Thai food for dinner, and it was scrumptious. We ate all of it except the beef dish which Nala pulled off the counter and finished. I think she liked the veggies.

The wonderful part of last night was spending it with friends. The evening felt so normal just to sit there and laugh and joke with each other. Henry was on his best behavior. Jay could not believe how changed he is from when they last saw him. He stayed in the room with us. Nala wasn’t on her best behavior. She was a puppy. She tried to sit on laps, grab the food on the table and beg a bit. She enjoyed the company.

Last night, I didn’t sleep well. The pain in my eye woke me up several times. I think all the shopping and preparing were at fault. This morning, though, my eye was easy to open, not as gunky (sorry for the graphic description). I think it is on the mend. Today I’ll help it along by doing nothing. I excel at doing nothing.