The dogs and I are lounging in the air conditioning. The heat is brutal. It is 88°, far too hot for this time of year. Nala went out, sniffed the air but then decided to come right back inside the house. It did rain around 3:30 this morning but only for a short time. The forecast is for more rain, but I am a skeptic. The sun is high, the sky is blue.

The deck flowers are beautiful. The begonias are huge. I chose a variety of colors to put in pots across the deck rail. I think the pink is the brightest. The basil is ready for picking. The lavender and the rosemary smell the best. I run my hand up each plant to press the smell onto my fingers.

When I was growing up, I never learned to cook beyond a hot dog, canned soup or a hamburger. In Ghana, I baked cookies for the first time, sugar cookies for Christmas. My mother had sent me cookie cutters and colored sprinkles so I figured I’d give baking a try. The first thing I had to do was travel 100 miles south to a town called Tamale (tarm a lay) to fill the gas cylinder. My town had no gas so I didn’t use my stove but rather cooked food on a small charcoal burner. I hauled the cylinder onto a bus. The trip took around two and a half hours each way. In Tamale I found a station, had the gas can filled then hauled the heavy canister onto another bus for the ride home. When I got back to Bolga, I took a taxi to my house, no way could I have hauled the heavy canister through town and up the hill to my school. I used a beer bottle to roll the dough, cut trees and stockings then baked the cookies. I was surprised. They were delicious. They made the trek worthwhile.

I loved my mother’s brownies. One bite was a burst of chocolate. She sometimes added chocolate chips to the batter and always frosted her brownies with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. I liked the crisp corners.

This is a busy week for me and my uke. I just wish it were cooler.

The air conditioner is cooling the house. Nala has stopped panting. Clouds cover the sky, but no rain is predicted. The high will be 80°. I do have to go out for two necessities of life, bread and cream, but I have nothing else I need to do.

This morning I was up early, early for me. I took my time. My first cup of coffee was paired with the paper. My usual opening for the day. Later I had my second cup and a bagel with cream cheese. I watched the last episode of season 2 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds as the new season starts this month. You can’t have a better morning.

My parents were always the youngest parents. My mother was twenty when I was born as was my father, but he turned twenty-one a few months later. My mother always claimed I was the smartest baby, but what mother doesn’t make that claim. What mother would ever say I gave birth to a stupid kid? My baby book is filled. I walked at nine months, said my first sentences before my second birthday and loved Golden Books. My favorite book was Chicken Little. Years ago my mother gave me my baby book. I put it away for safe keeping, but I don’t remember where, typical of me as I have many missing items in safe keeping.

I had a diary when I was a kid. It had been a Christmas present. The diary was faux red leather and had a lock. On the front was a picture of a girl, a teenager by the looks of her, writing in the diary. When I first got my diary, I wrote in it every day. I wrote about what was happening, where I went and what I did. I was young so there was no discussion of romantic entanglements. I never gave thought as to whether my days were worth chronicling. I just figured they were.

When I was in Ghana, I didn’t keep a journal, but I wrote long aerograms and filled every available space. I wrote about my every day. I described my town and going to the market. I wrote about my students. I even wrote about food and what I ate for meals. I knew everything would be interesting to my family and friends at home, but, to me, it was just every day living. I have a few of those letters. I read them every now and then. I don’t need them to help me remember as my memories of Ghana are so clear. I read them to keep in touch with the younger me and my life in Ghana filled with wonder and the joy of every day.

Coffee has become my diary, one I lovingly share.