This morning came early for me, 6:30. It was damp and foggy with a sky full of clouds. The weather said sun and blue skies. Both finally appeared around 9. Rain is predicted for the next three or four days so I need to soak up the sun while it’s here.

I have a list of all the errands I need to do today, all five of them. The big stop is the Hardware Store which has a list of its own. I never wander in hardware stores the way I do in other stores. I go, get what I need and leave. Usually I ask for help or recommendations from one of the men who works there. All the employees in my hardware store are men. There used to be a woman working there, but she disappeared. I figure people expect to find men working in a hardware store among the tools and nails and such. A brush, cleaning liquid and a hose nozzle which has a power wash setting are on my list. I need to clean the deck chairs.

When I was kid, we went to the beach often. We always went on a Sunday. My mother packed the lunch, and my father made the bug juice. My mother also packed a blanket, towels and tee-shirts for us to keep the sun at bay. My mother didn’t swim so she kept an eye on my sisters and mostly stayed on the blanket. She’d get crazed if we had sand on our feet and carried it to the blanket. That meant shaking the blanket clean. I was part of the wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming generation. My mother said we’d get cramps and maybe even drown if we didn’t wait. We stayed at the beach all day. I usually fell asleep on the long drive home.

When I was a kid, there was a place called Kiddie Ranch on Route 1 in Saugus. It was behind Arcade Bazaar. We used to go by it on the way to and from my grandparents’ house. From the road I could see some of the rides. I always wanted to go and asked often. One time my parents surprised us by saying we were going there. What I remember is my father turning the car around at the rotary and saying we were going home as we were too noisy. My heart fell. What I didn’t realize was he had to turn around as Kiddie Ranch was on the opposite side of Route 1. I don’t remember the rides.