Today is another wonderfully beautiful summer day. The morning air is clear. The sun is a bit diffused. There are clouds, but they are just part of the background of the day. The temperature will be in the high 70's. The low will be a lovely 68˚. A strong breeze ruffles the leaves and bends the top branches of the pines. Today is a day to be enjoyed.

Today begins August. It wasn't my favorite month but it was. I guess that's a contradiction of sorts needing explaining. Well, August meant closer to back to school, the end of my summer, but August also meant my birthday, the best day.

When I was a kid, I wasn't ever thrilled with Sundays. I had to go to mass and stay around for dinner. On some Sunday afternoons we went to visit my grandparents in East Boston. I was always bored unless I explored. The thousands of cousins, who were also dragged to my grandparents, were more my sisters' ages. I was the oldest grandchild. I found the city intriguing. I lived in a smallish town so I was in awe of the city. Corner stores were everywhere. People sold slush out of their windows. Bakeries had pizza, square pizza which I still love. I remember the truck with the merry go round stopping on the streets so kids could buy rides. The horses were small. There were four or five of them spinning in a tight circle. I was too old to ride, but I was okay with that. I had the city to explore.

When I started traveling, I loved roaming the cities. I had favorites. London topped the list, but we are, of course, excluding Accra, my favorite of all. I have been to London more times than I can remember. Sometimes I stayed in a B&B, mostly when I was young. Later I'd stay in hotels, nice but inexpensive hotels. We stayed at the President a few times. It was in Russell Square around the corner from the subway, the tube. I remember breakfast included the traditional tomato and sort of rubbery bacon. I used to call room service for coke and ice. The oldest delivery lady always came to my room hauling the tray. She wore a full apron with a bib. I always gave her a big tip. I felt bad.

In South America, Quito, old Quito, is my favorite city. We stayed in a hotel around the corner from the plaza. Women wearing shawls and hats toted bundles of stuff, usually covered bundles to make them easier to carry but difficult to identify. I roamed the narrow streets. I stopped to visit churches and museums. I shopped in a couple of stores. I sat on the plaza steps for a while to watch the world go by me. I ate on the run. Quito was my hub for exploring. I went in a bus to the equator. There was a shack of sorts and a line on the ground separating the two hemispheres. I stood straddling the line so I was in both hemispheres. The shack sold souvenirs and post cards. I bought a few post cards, wrote them out and paid to have them sent from the equator so the postmark was 00°00'00. That was really neat. Another day I went to a market a distance from the city. It was unbelievable. The market had everything from animals to prepared foods, clothes, cloth, household goods and so much more. I bought a few things, easy to carry things. One was a small basket and the other a hat, a beautiful red sort of cowboy hat I still have which is old enough now to be an antique. Inside the hat it says Industria Equatoriana and La Paloma de Tubac. I wore that hat rather than pack and probably squash it. I must have been an interesting sight to behold.