The morning is lovely though with a bit of a chill thanks to the ocean, still only 37˚. The sun is squint your eyes bright. I had to stop when I went to get the papers until my eyes adjusted. My plans for the day are simple. The den will get my attention. I’ll dust with a real dust rag, not my sweatshirt sleeve, and then vacuum. My master plan is to clean a room a day then start all over, a sort of Mad Tea Party without the tea or the hats, the March Hare or the Hatter and the sleeping Dormouse. I do have Henry and Jack, and I’ll be Alice cleaning.

I watched late night TV on MeTv until around three. That station has the best old TV. I watched The Night Strangler with Darren McGavin. It is still fun with him, his blue suit. his porkpie hat and his small camera on a strap. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was hokey. I had to remind myself to see it with 1966 eyes. The sub is enormous. Flashes of light from sparklers come out of control boards on the top and bottom sides then the little colored lights on the boards go out. I want to tell the crew not to worry. They’ll be safe.

When I was a kid, I loved the classic monster movies. I have favorite scenes in all the movies. My favorite in Frankenstein, probably one of the best scenes of all those movies, is when the villagers, the men, carrying torches and screaming leave the village to hunt the monster. The women and children cower by the walls. The dogs are barking and straining at their leashes. It is frightening. The Invisible Man when he took off his bandages in front of everybody and is hysterically laughing is amazing and scary. Dracula with his shadow, his cape and those eyes always gives me pause. He is frightening. I am sorry for Renfield and his madness, thanks to the Count. The Wolf Man, the 1941 Wolf Man, makes me sad. He is such a gentle human. His changing from man to wolf always kind of captivated me when I was young. I watched these movies in my bedroom on a small bureau size black and white TV. I got scared sometimes so I turned the light on when I watched.

There is something exciting about being scared but not in any danger. Those scenes got my heart pumping. I knew the monsters weren’t real, but they scared me anyway. I still wait for those scenes. I adhere to a suspension of disbelief. That makes everything is so much more fun and a even bit scary.

Happy Spring!

I set my alarm to get up to greet the sun but nobody told the sun. It was gray and cloudy. I sighed and turned over and fell back to sleep. When I woke up a few hours later, it was sunny. Right now it is 44˚. The high will be 48˚. and without the wind, it feels warmer. I’m staying in today as I have no place I need to go. The dump is scheduled for tomorrow.

When I was a kid, I loved spring. I loved shedding the layers of clothes for my light jacket, my spring jacket. It didn’t matter if the morning was cold, I was determined to wear that jacket once the seasons changed. My mother did convince me to add a sweater one morning when there was a late frost.

When I was seven, I became a Brownie. My mother brought me to Jordan Marsh where there was a section selling Girl and Boy Scout equipment and clothing. We bought my Brownie uniform, the brown round beanie and a brown belt with a small coin purse attached. On the purse and the beanie was the Brownie logo, a sort of joyful, dancing sprite. My mother sewed my troop number on the sleeve near the shoulder. My troop used to meet in the cellar of the school which had a bench around three walls, high small windows and the girls’ bathroom. On troop days we could wear our Brownie uniforms instead of our school uniforms. I was always so proud. I remember we marched in the Memorial Day parade, a really home town parade filled with a few floats, Girl and Boy Scouts, little league teams on the back of trucks and the high school band and cheerleaders. A family story is still being told to my chagrin. It seems when I got home from my first parade I told the family that everyone was out of step but me.

I remember Fly-Up Day. It was a ceremony when we Brownies became junior Girl Scouts. Even parents came. We received actual badge wings to put on our Girl Scout sashes right at the top. The gold wings had a green background and were symbolic of our flying to the next Girl Scout level. Our uniforms were green. Our hats were green with a white trefoil on the front inside of which was a GS in white lettering. We wore a sash to hold our badges. I remember the thick Girl Scout Handbook. It had all the requirements for each badge. I remember the rows of the badges I earned. I remember becoming a senior scout. I was so proud.

I have a hat collection. I have my Brownie hat and my worse for wear Girl Scout hat. They carry so many memories.