Bingo ~ and Thankfully Reading Weekend

Donna and Bonnie ~ notice my shirt (explanation below)

I filled out what I could of the Bingo card, so it's time for my report on it and the Thankfully Reading Weekend, even though our reading for this event doesn't end until midnight.

1st LINE ACROSS

• East a healthy snack ~ Hummus on celery.  DONE
• Read more than one book ~ I did, but I didn't finish either of them this weekend.
• Do a 60 minute reading sprint ~ Doesn't everyone do this?  DONE
• Read for a total of 8 hours ~ Being retired, I do this on a regular basis.  DONE
• Read before breakfast ~ Pretty much a daily thing.  DONE

2nd LINE ACROSS

• Comment on someone's blog ~ Left comments for Deb, Jenn, and Helen.  DONE
• Read 100 pages ~ easy peasy.  DONE
• Read when it's dark outside ~ I always read at bedtime ... and well beyond.  DONE
• Read under the covers ~ Reading in bed means I do lots of undercover reading.  DONE
• Listen to an audiobook ~ Nope, not my thing.  I'm a visual person.

3rd LINE ACROSS

• Post a book review ~ I don't write reviews as often as I used to.
• Read a book you are thankful for ~ All books?  Every book I read?  No, that's cheating.  Hmm.
• TURKEY ~ free spot.  DONE
• Read a recipe ~ At my age (79), I prepare mostly familiar foods, so I'll skip this one.
• Wear something bookish ~ I happen to have just the thing.  The photo taken today with my friend Donna at the top proves it.  (See *1  below for explanation.)  DONE

4th LINE ACROSS

• Take a break and do some stretches ~ Did that on Friday afternoon with my exercise pals.  DONE
• Cheer on other readers ~ I used to cheer on the readers doing Dewey's 24-hour Readathon, but none this weekend.  Sorry.
• Read twice in one day ~ I'm retired, so I read off and on EVERY day.  DONE
• Read outside ~ I laughed when I saw this, then I remembered that Bingo-creator Deb lives in Texas.  (See **2 below for my wordy response.)
• Read a book on the computer ~ Kindle is allowed, Deb said.  DONE

5th LINE ACROSS

• Read something that is not a book ~ I read Reader's Digest, The New Yorker, and a bunch of stuff on Facebook (oh, wait, that time-waster probably doesn't count).  DONE
• Recommend a book to someone ~ I do this often, but I don't remember specifically doing it during this weekend.
• Read 200 pages ~ another easy peasy.  DONE
• Drink something delicious ~ Does orange juice count?  Or flavored tea?  DONE
• Write down a quote from a book ~ I'll share it with you now, along with a story.  (See ***3 below.)  DONE

It appears that the only Bingo I achieved this weekend was the center row, up and down ... unless the four corners and the center count.  But it's been fun.  Thanks, Deb and Jenn.

* Note #1

I'm the seasonal bookworm, who reads in all seasons.  Since you can't really see that bottom line, even if you click to enlarge the photo at the top, here's what it says on my shirt:

SEASONAL BOOKWORMS

.... WINTER ....

It's snowing. I should stay inside and read.

.... SPRING ....

I have allergies. I have to stay inside and read.

.... SUMMER ....

It's too hot. I'd better stay inside and read.

.... AUTUMN ....

It's so windy. I think I will stay inside and read.

Donna's shirt has nothing to do with this weekend, but it's fun and somewhat related.  She and her friends play Bananagrams most Saturday evenings — words relate to books, right?  They've chosen the sloth as their spirit animal because the beautiful little 2-letter word "ai" is a three-toed sloth.  Donna's shirt says:  "I finally found my spirit animal ... SLOTH ... does absolutely nothing and just sleeps."

** Note #2

I had just read the Bingo suggestion to "Read outside" and remembered that Deb lives in Texas before opening the memoir I'm reading to Chapter 6.  Almost immediately I was laughing again.  The part that made me laugh is below.

*** Note #3

QUOTE from page 66 of God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America, a memoir by Lyn Lenz (2019):

"I didn't grow up in the Midwest; I grew up in Texas, where the openness of the land sprawls hard and wide — like a big, calloused hand.   There, people stretch rather than cluster.  The weather rarely gets cold.  Blizzards don't blow piles of snow against doors and windows, so there are fewer windbreaks and less grace in the geography."

How's that for coincidence, reading about Texas in a book that is not about Texas?  I'm from the South (Chattanooga, Tennessee), but I now live in St. Louis, Missouri.  Last week, we had snow on the ground for days.  It's been rainy all weekend, and temperatures have been in the thirties and low forties.  So the only way I could "read outside" would be to stand under the awning of my building for just long enough to read one or two — or possibly three — paragraphs before running back inside.  That's why I laughed.