Last night I fell asleep to the wonderful sound of the rain on the roof. Since then the rain has come and gone and come again. The snow is pock-marked and ugly. I can see part of my deck and all of the deck stairs. Yesterday it was freezing. Today it is already nearly 50˚ and should get as high as 55˚. Tonight will be windy and the rain will return, torrential rain.

George is campaigning for Jeb. I saw a bit of one speech, and George used one of my favorite Bushisms,”People have long misunderestimated me.”The Republican race is entertaining me.

When I was a little kid, I never did many girly things though most of my friends did. I wasn’t into wearing dresses though I had to because of school dress codes. During my sophomore year in college the winter was so cold the school allowed women to wear pants. We never had to wear dresses or skirts again. In Ghana I had to wear dresses every day. It was the custom. I didn’t really mind. My dresses were sewn by my seamstress for about $3 or $4, and they were made from beautiful and colorful African cloth I had bought in the market. It was also so hot in Ghana that a dress was cooling. I can’t remember the last time I wore a dress, but I know the next wear a dress event will be Easter.

This is February school vacation week. When I was growing up, we never went anywhere during this week. No one I knew ever did. Mostly we all just hung around the neighborhood, went to each others’ houses to play or we rode bikes if it was warm enough. If it was cold, we skated or went sledding. The joy of the week was having no school. That was plenty enough for us.

I never felt deprived of anything when I was growing up. That we didn’t have much money never occurred to me. I had what I needed. I got my fifty cents allowance every Friday and felt rich. I got my movie and candy money on Saturday. I got a dime on Sunday to put in the basket at mass. I was a happy kid. Life was good, still is come to think of it.