Today is already warm. It is 63˚ and will even get higher. There are some clouds, small white clouds, a blue sky and sun. The blue sky is getting bigger. The now and then wind is strong. I’m ready for a few outdoor tasks. The bird feeders need filling. Gold finches and a pair of cardinals are frequent visitors, and their feeder is low. My little library needs more tape to cover the holes the birds made. I bought green duct tape. I have new lights for the deck railing. I wonder how long these will last.

My upstairs bathroom floor has been driving me crazy. When I go in at night to clean and refill the cats’ water dish, I see a lot of cat hair on the floor and dried spots of water below the toilet and across the floor toward the door. I blamed Henry. The other night I walked in on Jack. He was standing on his cat tip toes with his two front paws in the toilet and he was having a drink. He gave me a glaring look and went back to drinking. I waited by the door until he was done. The mystery has been solved.

This time of day and early evening are when all three of my animals are upstairs. Jack sleeps in my room while the two cats are in the guest room. Often, especially on cold days, both the cats sleep under the bed near a heater. Because I always give them treats when I go into the room, they come out to greet me. Jack has to squeeze himself almost to the floor to get from under the bed. Jack is a really big boy.

When I was a kid, I always had an answer. That didn’t thrill my dad. He got even madder. I learned early how far I could take it before the veins in my dad’s neck popped. Most times he just sent me to my room. He made happy. My room was always a refuge for me. I could lie in my bed and read. Upstairs was usually quiet. I was alone. It was my favorite punishment.

When I graduated from high school, my parents gave me a typewriter. It, of course, came to college with me. I was a slow typist as I needed to see the keys. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table in my senior year apartment typing a paper for theology. I had my small bottle of Wite-Out beside me. I needed it. The problem was it took a long time to dry. I can remember blowing on the Wite-Out then touching it to see if it was dry only to smear it. Typing my papers often took longer than writing them. I still have my typewriter.

Yesterday was a delight. The weather was so beautiful I was happy to be out and about. My appointment was in Hyannis. I went the Mid-Cape to get there and then decided to go Route 28 home. It is the long way but the most interesting way. When I was a kid, Route 28 was dark in winter because nearly all the motels and restaurants closed for the season. In January Route 28 was a ghost town of sorts. Here and there were open grocery stores and a couple of restaurants, but the rest were dark. Yesterday I remembered.

The Mill Hill Club was on the corner across the street from the roller skating rink. Both buildings are still there but only the rink is recognizable. Just a bit down the street I passed where the Dairy Queen used to be near the A&W which is also gone. One corner further down used to be Chez Lenor bridal shop. The upper floor was a giant window with mannequins formally dressed. The rumor was the shop was actually a brothel, and the mannequins were the key. One mannequin in the window would face forward or backward to signal whether the brothel was open for business. Now it is an empty track of land with an orphaned parking lot, a stretch of grass and an urban legend.

I passed a neat building which looks Polynesian. It was once a popular gift shop called The Barefoot Trader. When people came down to visit my parents, this store was on my mother’s shop tour. After that it became a Bass shoe outlet. I shopped there. It is now the Ability Farm thrift store.

One strip of stores in West Yarmouth is mostly empty. Only a Thai restaurant is left. The buildings are wooden and quite old and are looking shabby. There used to be a drug store, a grocery store and a bakery where I always stopped if I was in the neighborhood. I think there was once a paint store but I’m not sure. This strip mall has a dubious future.

I passed Jerry’s Seafood restaurant. It looks exactly as it did when I was in high school. Jerry was around then and was prone to yelling. I stopped there for lunch a few months ago. I ordered shrimp with fries and onion rings, always with onion rings. Jerry’s are the thin sort, my favorite sort.

I jumped off 28 just passed the liquor store for the back road. That store too has been around a long while. The back road takes me near where my family used to live. Every now and then I go pass our house for the memories.

Today is a rainy day. I’m happy with the rain.