Summer is really upon us. It is another day in the 80’s. It is another day for hibernating inside the cool house. The dogs are napping. Last night was another strange night for Nala. This time she was barking. Henry barks all the time. Nala never barks. When I heard her, I grabbed my flashlight and ran outside. I called her as I wasn’t about to trudge through the undergrowth to the back of my yard. Luckily, she came running. I put the leash on her, brought her inside and kept her inside. I’m wondering if some animal is harassing my poor dog.

I love the wee hours. Last night, rather early this morning, I stood out on the deck around 2 AM. The night had cooled a bit. Only one other house had a light. The sounds were from insects and night birds. It felt peaceful, serene. I sat for a bit longer not wanting to go inside, not wanting to waste any of this lovely night, but it was time for bed.

My dance card has mostly uke. We had a concert yesterday, tonight is practice, tomorrow my lesson and another concert on Friday. Uke gets me out of the house.

When I was growing up, my life was simple. It had a regimen, sort of. School days were always the same. I wore the same uniform, walked the same way every day and lessons were in the same order. My lunch was usually a sandwich and dessert, bologna, on white bread, and cookies, Oreos or chocolate chip. After my mother grocery shopped, we’d sometimes have Hostess for dessert. I was partial to cupcakes. Depending on the season, we’d play outside after school. After dinner, we’d watch a bit of TV before bed. The next morning it started all over again, in the way, in the same order. The funny part of it is I was never bored.

Now, my life is a bit lazy. I do what I want. I choose cleaning only when the Henry hair balls take over the house. That was yesterday. I swept. I water the plants inside and outside. I only make my bed when I change the sheets. I don’t cook so much. I have a couple of go to dishes, one with sausage, potatoes and onions and the other is pasta, shells mostly, but I’d make lasagna if I weren’t so lazy.

I have a couple of errands today.

The air conditioner is already blasting. The house was hot when I woke up so even before I made coffee I turned on the AC. The high for today will be 86°. It is an August on Cape Cod sort of day.

I have small gripes, little things which somehow drive me crazy. One of them is the ad which is constantly repeated on YouTube and airs twice in a row. It is for a Toyota dealership. One line sends me right back to the 1950’s. The speaker says even a woman can shop there. Wow, good to know! I watched another video where two couples went out to eat together. The men sat in the front, the women in the back. I wondered if they also walked behind their husbands. I think I live in a time warp.

When I was a kid, we seldom went out to eat. It was just too expensive. We did, once in a while, go to Kitty’s. It was mostly Italian, and it was usually busy with filled tables and lots of noise. It always felt special to me. I can still see us in my mind’s eye at a table in the corner by the door. For some reason I remember old waitresses who were extraordinary, who could line up dishes on their arms and carry them from the kitchen and around tables to their final destinations. There was so much food on the plates that we always had leftovers. Kitty’s is still one of my favorite places though I haven’t eaten there in years.

I am a fan of cheeseburgers. When I go out to eat, I often order them. For sides I love onion rings, the ones with the thin batter, and sweet potato fries. At seafood restaurants I pig out on the seafood platter with cole slaw on the side. My mother always got shrimp. I am partial to scallops. I like to crack my own lobsters though I’d never turn down a lobster roll. I like tangy cole slaw. I’ll always try new foods as long as there are no beans. My favorite pizza is sausage with caramelized onion. I think my tastes in foods are cosmopolitan. When I traveled, I ate foods whose names I didn’t know or couldn’t pronounce. It was like mystery dining.

Because I live by myself, I don’t make elaborate meals. I eat what is easy. I have eggs often and usually add cheese, cheddar. If I cook a real meal, it is cause for celebration. The dogs wear party hats, and there are streamers. Henry turns in circles. Nala wiggles that stubby tail. I use real dishes. Music plays. I’m eating dinner, not supper.

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.