I sort of know how Dorothy felt when she left Kansas and landed in the wonderful land of Oz. Yesterday was dismal, cloudy and damp with periodic rumblings of thunder. Today is gorgeous, warm and sunny, with a lovely breeze. Right away I hauled out my cleaning supplies and cleaned off the layers of pollen from the deck table and chairs then I brought out my coffee and papers. It was my first morning this season on the deck.

I noticed the birds aren’t around. It seems they’re not liking the new seed I bought so it’s back to Agway later today. I’ll put blinders on as that’s also my gardening store. I watered the deck plants while I was out there and rearranged a few candles on the trees. Gracie was with me a while then came inside for her morning nap. Fern is in the sun by the door, and I have no idea where Maddie is.

The one constant in my life has always been Oreo cookies. They have never let me down. When I was young, I could always count on my mother buying them every Friday night when she grocery shopped. My sisters, sitting together on the back steps, used to open them carefully so as not to break the wafers then they’d scrap off the cream with their teeth, the best method of all for eating the cream. The wafers went to the dog. I can still remember how the cream looked with teeth marks across it, almost like ruts on a wintry country road. I am an original Oreos fan though I do like the double stuffed. The orange ones at Halloween just don’t seem right. I know they taste the same, but my eyes tell me differently. I found a drink that tastes just like an Oreo cookie and a cookie on the rim is the garnish. It’s a bit of heaven here on Earth.