Maybe because I'm tired. Too warm last night and didn't sleep. It's already 74°F out; positively tropical. The cold was supposed to start tomorrow and now it's Wednesday, and may be proceeded by very stormy weather (which, of course, she adds cynically, will probably start during rush hour). The fluorescents are really, really hurting my eyes today. I feel like I'm staring directly into the sun and my eyes feel swollen and the letters on the computer screen occasionally wobble back and forth. Have a sore throat, too, and my tongue hurts. Mostly I'm just...sad. Can't go into the spare room without thinking of my mom. I'm unaccountably homesick for Woolworth's this year: I long for a time machine so I can step through their doors and smell the fresh popcorn and the coffee from the lunch counter and peppermint sticks and even wet wool coats. Maybe it's because Mom and I spent a lot of time at Woolworth's. We used to eat at the lunch counter quite a bit—way back my Aunty Terry used to work at the lunch counter and Mom was always partial to it after that. I used to have the open-faced turkey sandwich and a coffee milk, if they had any. The waitresses wore uniforms and were brisk and pleasant. Then we'd walk in the back to see the budgies. I always remember Mom picking up little things there: a spool of thread or a packet of needles or hair nets or bobby pins. We'd go out the back door if we needed to go to Garr's (the fabric store). At Christmastime I would buy all my stuffed animals new ribbons at Garr's.

We also patronized the Garden City Woolworth's a lot. Dad used to bowl in a league midweek during the summer and we'd go with him and then walk over to the stores when we first got there, sometimes all the way down to the Outlet (where the Linens'n'Things is now) and back. We'd stop in Woolworth's to visit the budgies at the back of the store, maybe pick up a pair of socks or a packet of underwear. I got all my new diaries at Woolworth's, and I'd buy a blank wall calendar there every year and draw my own pictures for each one of the months. Got my typewriter ribbons there, too. And they made the best popcorn: they had an "Air Popt" machine and made it fresh; the corn was always hot, just salty enough, and tender.

I'm glad there's a Borders there now, instead of something tedious like a clothing or a shoe store.

Maybe if I just had a good cry...

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 12:22:00 PM

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