When I woke up, the morning was pretty. The sun was shining. I was thinking about going out for a bit, but the sun has since disappeared behind a sky filling with clouds. I’ll just stay here nice and warm for now hoping for a return visit from the sun. The furnace company just called. The part is in, and someone will be here this afternoon. My furnace still comes on, but the poor thing sounds as if it is in horrific pain. Henry barked at the noise when it first started but doesn’t care about it any more. I do. I wince when I hear it.

When I was a kid, our house had radiators. When the furnace came on, I could hear the gurgling of the water through the pipes of the radiator. It was almost a comforting sound, and I sometimes fell asleep as the radiator on the wall at the foot of my bed hissed and steamed. If I felt cold, I used to sit in front of that radiator to get warm. I now have the sound of forced hot air, not in anyway as interesting as water coursing through the pipes.

My meals have been hit or miss. Last night I ordered in for the first time in a while. My money jar had plenty, mostly $1’s. I ordered a hot sub and French fries. For tonight I have chicken defrosted. I have no idea what I want to do with it. There are just too many possibilities. It’s a quandary.

When I was a rich kid with a nickel, I often bought a bar of candy, a single bar of candy with my whole nickel. I usually tried to buy long lasting candy like a Sugar Daddy. I got to lick the caramel, chew it and stretch it. My favorite candy for a long time was a Milky Way, a frozen Milky Way. One corner store a few blocks from my house kept some bars in the freezer. It was worth the walk. I used to like a Bit-o-Honey Bar. It had neat packaging with individual slots on wax paper so the pieces wouldn’t stick together, and it had an unfamiliar taste. Later, I learned it was honey. I think I’d still like Bit-o-Honey.

The furnace is blasting still. Every time it turns on I can hear the rumbling, the groaning. I called the fix-it company and am waiting for a call from the repairman as to an appointment to replace the groaning part.

Cloudy again and clouds are part of the whole week’s forecast. The temperature will be in the 40’s during the day.

When I was a kid, I’m sure we lost electricity and heat sometimes, but I don’t remember other than Carol, that fierce hurricane in 1954. I know it was in late August because my sister had just been born and was still in the hospital. I remember my parents glad she was there as the hospital had generators. My father took my brother and me outside during the eye of the storm. We were the only people out on my street. I think that was when I understood eerie. The air was perfectly still and the sky had an odd color. I was excited to be out during a hurricane, during a storm which toppled huge trees on my street. My father used to park on the street in front of the house, but when the hurricane was coming, he parked his car in the lot at the top of the street. No one ever parked there. That was the only time my father did. We used to roller skate and play games like Green Light and Red Rover on that lot.

I went to the dump yesterday. My passenger seat, the back seat and the trunk were filled with boxes and bags of newspapers and trash, mostly heavy bags of gross kitty litter. I had trouble lifting a couple of the bags over the top of the metal trash bins. I had to use two hands to lift the bags. Last night my back complained, and it really hurt when I moved. My ah, ah, ah’s got Henry’s attention, but he was a bit bewildered by my tone.

Today I was actually going to do some errands, but I dare not leave the house until I hear from the repairman. Meanwhile, I’ll just hang around and watch TV. I’m thinking it might be movie time, a distraction from my furnace and the news.

News Flash: I got a call. My needed furnace part been found, but it will take a day or two for it to arrive. It was close to $500.00. At least I don’t need a new furnace yet!!