I got up early and discovered I had no milk for coffee. It was too early to go to the little corner shop so I decided to cook an old favorite – green beans and new potatoes with onion and tomato sauce. I had quite a bit of time so I took a while simmering the onion slices until they were golden and adding garlic and shallots too. The green beans were perfect, fresh from the Italian market and $1.49 for the package I couldn’t go wrong. “The good housewife cooks before she is hungry” was my idea as I prepared the summery dish. It was very overcast as I waited until I thought the shop might be open. Somehow I have little appetite in the morning these days but I was dying for a cafe au lait.

At last it was time to go get my milk. How dingy the shop is. You can tell that the profit margin is slim in the little store run by a Chinese family. The display cases are rusty and the space very cramped. On my way back I passed an old man setting stones into the edging of his front garden. A mother and a little girl waled hand in hand in front of me and an ernest cyclist pedalled past. Fine rain began to fall and then – an absolute downpour. Oh, the prudent mother had a little umbrella for her daughter and the two of them walked on sedately. I have a bad knee and was wearing a pair of flip flops so running was out of the question but my pace quickened but not before I was completely drenched. The sky simply opened up within a matter of a few seconds. Now the miracle is that this downpour allowed the sky to clear up and now it is nice and sunny. I am waiting for another special event too…look, my frangipani will bloom soon. Last year it refused and I was very frustrated but this year the white and fragrant flowers that grace the ears of Hawiian girls will finally come to my garden.

Perhaps when I am all alone one night I will pick one, put it behind my resolutely pink ear and hear the faint sounds of a ukulel and pounding surf. Stay tuned for the next miracle.