The sun is out there! And it’s Friday! “All day long!” For those who may not know this was something my older folks said. As a child I wondered at it. How could it be? It seemed a lament of some kind; the attention on the length of one day. I like old laments, or sayings.

There would be these small posters put on the wall which said things, “Honor your mother and father.” “Do unto others as you would yourself.” These were this opaque blue, and they had this powdery look to them. There were decorative images such as a flower along with the written words. I read these often and I believed that is how to be. I would ask myself, “How do I do those things?” Children are shaped by what they see. And by what they experience.

I think about those times of growing up. I recall doing a lot of work-related things more than playing. I did get to read books. I read what I could find. Then, I hit the jackpot during grammar school. During recess we could walk to the little library to get books! I soon ran out of youth books, and began to read the adult books, saying they were for my mother. The librarian allowed this likely knowing they were for me.

There is hope for others these days, that there is a return to reading, listening to vinyl records, going to theater seems to draw crowds still. There is nothing like live performances. Dressing up and going out, fine dining and then a wonderful performance.

I do like audio books because I can listen to them when I work. I think they are not good to go to bed with but I can not resist.

If I were a child, I would find the remotest place in my world. I could be found climbing a favorite tree, lying on my back in the tall grass, perhaps sitting on rocks on the knoll out back as I eyed our huge house with windows like eyes looking out at me, daring me with its seeming vastness, its old wisdoms. I would sit in a scheduled spot in the massive lilacs, these taking up a good portion of the lawn. Or I would take a pillow and lay flat on a long foundation granites by the house, my favorite in the middle of my mothers flower bed. Here I could hide and read as I hoped she would not require my help. I wanted to stay there out of site, out of the fray of her needing me to work. In these places I would enjoy my aloneness by shutting out the world and being one with the earth and sky, the tree I came to love. I was never far away from the house, always the calling distance. I liked to explore culverts, small brooks, the edge of ponds. The pathways that led to such places, old roads into the woods led to the pine grove. A book my company, a bike to fly back home. The things you love and miss are not always people. I wonder what people will say to find me in such places now. I don’t care! There is no one to call me out to work now. Just me! So I can stay as long as I like wherever I may go.

Best wishes! Pejj Nunes 3/27/2026