Today I’m actually going out to do a couple of errands. It has been a while, but Henry needs treats as do the cats. I could do with a treat myself. I’m thinking chocolate, the most uplifting of treats.

When I was a kid, chocolate bars were a nickel. I had favorites. A Sky Bar is one of them, probably my all time favorite. I loved the four different tastes. Caramel was the best part. I remember buying a bar of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate which I probably wouldn’t eat now, not near sweet enough. For a while I bought Zero bars. They had white chocolate fudge for a topping. Their insides included caramel and nougat. I bought a Chunky every now and then, but I decided it was too small to pay a nickel. Marathon Bars were strange. They were like a braid of caramel covered in chocolate. I figure you’ve seen the trend. I was and am a caramel fan. A Milkshake bar was akin to a Milky Way. Saturday matinees meant long lasting candy like Sugar Daddies. JuJu Beads were once sold at the movie concession stand, but they were removed because they were more for throwing than eating.

I’m not a fan of miniature bars. They are a travesty. My father used to like them so my mother usually bought a package for him when she shopped. He hid them under the couch, but we all knew. My favorite miniature is the Krackel Bar, a twin to Nestle’s Crunch. I’d pick those out of the dish. The Milky Ways were next to disappear. In a while, only regular Hershey Bars were left in the candy dish. I find them boring. To me, their only purpose in life is in s’mores.

When I was in Ghana, we sometimes treated ourselves and bought Cadbury chocolate bars as nighttime treats. The DPW had a small store sort of around the corner from the school. We’d each buy a chocolate bar and a cold coke, both major treats. My favorite bar was the Fruit and Nut Bar.

Today I have to buy chocolate. I’m salivating just a bit for a bar or two. I deserve a treat.

Cold is the optimum word for today’s weather. Right now it is 30˚, one degree away from what will be the high of the day. I crossed the dump off my list. It is cold even when the rest of the world is warm. My list is now empty for today. I’ll loll.

I remember getting my small pox vaccine when I was a kid. I had to get it so I could go to school. My doctor shot me in the upper leg. I remember it hurt. The spot scabbed over then left a scar, a funny looking scar. It was round and had little white spots in the middle. Most of the scar has disappeared, but one small spot on my upper leg is a bit whiter than the rest of the area so I’m thinking that’s where the shot went. I was already in school when the polio vaccine was available. They gave it to us in school. Over time I’ve had a couple of tetanus shots, but it was in Ghana where I hit the jackpot.

Before we left for Ghana, we all got yellow fever shots. I remember standing in line waiting my turn. I don’t remember the shot hurting. I guess being in a crowd made me brave.

During our first week in Ghana, we had shot day. Tables were lined end to end. Each table was manned by a shot giver and a helper. I can still see the whole scene in my mind’s eye straight from my memory drawers. We moved in a line from table to table and stopped to wait our turn when the line slowed down. The only shot I remember still makes me cringe. It was the rabies vaccine. I have never had a shot as painful as that one. Mostly the shots were given into my arms. Some of the shots were live vaccines. They seemed to fight over control. They also gave me a fever, and one shot moved up my arm. I followed the red trail. My butt got gamma globulin. We were in a room one at a time for privacy when we got that shot. The only painless stop was for the polio vaccine which we drank from a small cup.

I have amazing memories of Ghana. Shot day is not one of them.