The morning is ugly. The wind is so strong the pine tree tops are swaying back and forth. The sky is covered in thick clouds which offer little hope for a sunny afternoon. The day is damp making it feel colder than it is. Right now it is 49˚. A few months ago I would loved a temperature in the 40’s but this is spring. Come on, Mother Nature. You can do better.

My plans for today are simple. I need to dust and vacuum downstairs. Yesterday I bought a couple of succulents at CVS for half-price, and they need repotting. I may need to nap.

Henry saw his vet yesterday, his behavior modification vet. She thinks he is doing well but also thinks he may need a trainer to stop his crazed barking at the door. Some of what she suggested for his other behaviors I have been doing already. I had put his halter on the floor to decrease his fear, and she suggested I do the same with his leash but add a biscuit so he’ll associate the two, the leash and the cookie. She suggested I put opaque window film on the three door windows to prevent Henry from standing on the stairs and barking at what he can see. She also suggested I help Henry associate the sound of a car/truck approaching with the immediate delivery of a treat. The only drawback is Henry already sees everything as treat worthy.

When I was a kid, we used to have pajama parties. Now they’re called asleep-overs, but I think pajama party is a better description. We never slept until the very wee hours. We ate junk food and drank tonic (the Massachusetts word for pop, for soda pop). We slept on the floor using the pillows and blankets we’d bought. I remember being at Kathleen Donovan’s for a birthday pajama party. Her house was three houses down from my school. We stayed in the living room. The furniture had been moved to the side so we camped in the middle. I also remember her mother telling us it was time for lights out.

We always had supper. The only time we had dinner was on Sunday afternoons. Dinners were more formal. We ate at the table together. My mother served a roast of some sort, the big difference between dinner and supper. We always had potatoes and a veggie or two. We never had bread on the table the way they did in Leave It to Beaver. We also didn’t have to ask to be excused. We bolted when our plates were cleared of food. We ate a lot of hamburger. My favorite was American chop suey. The name is confusing as it has no resemblance to Chinese chop suey and is actually more like Italian food with pasta and ground beef. My mother did make a Chinese chop suey of sorts. I remember watching her make it in the electric fry pan. It had pea pods, bean sprouts and water chestnuts. I put La Choy Chow Mein Noodles on the top. I loved the crunch. I also put the noodles in the middle. I did say I loved the crunch.

Now, I’m craving Chinese food. I’ll order it for this afternoon. Would that be a late lunch or an early dinner?

This morning is chilly and damp. It rained during the night. Today’s temperature will stay in the 40’s. Henry has his appointment today at 12:30. He’ll be scared after the car ride. I worry. Poor Henry.

Yesterday I decided not to notice the dust. That was more difficult than it sounds. You’d have thought the clumps of fur on the hall floor were flying tumbleweeds. Most of the fur is white, short white, Henry fur. The guest room is the home of Miss Gwen. When I go upstairs, I find clumps of long black hair, cat hair, on the hall rug and in the bathroom. Gwen roams upstairs. She never comes all the way downstairs. She does sit on the stairs at night and meows. The stairs are the dustiest of all.

When I was a kid, flip-flops were called thongs. I never wore them. I didn’t like anything between my toes. I don’t remember wearing sandals either. Sneakers, white sneakers, were my summer footwear of choice. Ghana was when I first wore sandals all the time. It was hot so I liked my feet in the open air. I still wear sandals but I also sometimes wear sneakers. Mine are red, pink or purple. I try to match my ensemble.

I see lots of old men wearing white or black socks with their sandals. I always want to ask them why wear sandals. They are useless with socks. They become shoes.

When I was a kid, Duke, our boxer, was a fierce dog when it came to protecting us and our house. I remember sometimes we’d be playing with my dad on the floor and howling. Duke, thinking we were being hurt, would put his jaw around my dad’s wrist. He never bit down. It was a warning. After my dad let go of us, Duke would remove his jaw. I was never afraid when Duke was around.

I bought some fireballs at the candy store. When I was a kid, I loved fireballs. I’d challenge myself to ignore the heat, but most times I’d lose and have to take the fireball out of my mouth. Nothing much has changed. I ate one yesterday, and it got hot, hotter than I remembered. I had to take it out of my mouth for a couple of minutes, but then I put it back and struggled through. When it was the smallest, I bit through it. I have one more fireball I’m saving for another day. The challenge stands.