Language lovers, there's a blog for us!

Sharon, my neighbor, sent me a link to a blog for language lovers that is published by Collins Dictionary.  It includes help for people learning English.  That day, the latest blog post was about these three similar words:  cupboard, wardrobe, and closet.

1.  "Cupboards in American English are built-in shelves behind doors.  They are mainly found in kitchens."  My own example:  When the pandemic kept me from regular grocery shopping, I stocked my kitchen cupboard with canned goods, like soups, vegetables, chicken, tuna, and peanut butter.  But now we have another word dilemma — or at least, I do.  I know the word "cupboard" primarily from the nursery rhyme I learned as a child:

"Old Mother Hubbard

went to the cupboard 

to get her poor doggie a bone; 

but when she got there, 

the cupboard was bare, 

and so the poor doggie had none."

We always referred to the shelves in our kitchen as cabinets.  In other words, if I had told anyone that I'd collected those cans of food, I'd have said I put them in my kitchen cabinet.  I rarely use the word cupboard.

2.  "A wardrobe is a tall piece of furniture, usually in a bedroom, that has space for hanging clothes."  My example:  I remember having a wardrobe when I was growing up.  It looked sort of like this illustration I found online, but mine was light-colored and child-sized.  My cat Duchess had a litter of kittens on my underwear in one of the drawers.  It was probably the most comfortable place she could find, and I had most likely left the doors open.  I have no idea what happened to that wardrobe from my childhood.  Today, all my clothes are in my bedroom closet (see definition #3 below).

And to take this a bit further, what about the word chifforobe?  Actually, that's what we called that thing that held my clothes as a child.  Duchess had her kittens on top of my underwear in the chifforobe.  Wikipedia has information that I've edited for space:

A chifforobe (/ˈʃɪfəˌroʊb/), also chiffarobe or chifferobe, is a closet-like piece of furniture that combines a long space for hanging clothes (that is, a wardrobe or armoire) with a chest of drawers.  Typically the wardrobe section runs down one side of the piece, while the drawers occupy the other side.  [Mine had two doors, so we could open one side or the other or both.] ... Chifforobes were advertised in the 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalog, which described them as "a modern invention." ... The word is used in the United States, primarily in the southern portion of the country...

Yes, I'm from the South, so what can I say?  And I was a child in the 1940s and 1950s.  It's complicated, isn't it?  So was half of my chifforobe a wardrobe and the other half a closet?  Okay, it's time for that third definition.

3.  The language lovers blog says:  "In American English, a built-in wardrobe is called a closet."  My example:  Clawdia, the cat I have now, is so intelligent that she gets bored all alone in our apartment when I go out.  So she has taught herself how to open my coat closet by pulling in the center where it folds to open.  It took me years to catch her doing it when I happened to have a camera handy.

I did finally get a photo of her walking into the closet, just to prove she can.  I leave part of the floor in there cleared out, just for her.  She never stays inside the closet, just goes in and right back out.  But she knows how and likes to remind herself that she can easily do it.  (Hmm, does posting about Clawdia make this a Caturday post?  Sure, why not?  We now have a Caturday in the middle of the week.)

So after all this word study, what did I do?  I subscribed to the newsletter from Collins Dictionary and discovered it's from HarperCollins UK.  That "UK" explains a lot, right there.  If you are interested, I think you can sign up at the bottom of any page on the blog.  And it has free online dictionary, thesaurus, and reference materials.  Maybe I should also mention their Wordle helper.

Two chairs in a cozy corner

One day, Iva and I sat in these two chairs in the shade outside the Crown Center and talked, but the heat has kept most of us inside for several days.  Imagine with me:  If we could sit in these chairs and chat for a bit, what would we talk about?  Do you have any questions, anything you want to ask me?  Did you bring along a book?  Or your Kindle?  Let's talk!

Musing about our walk

I took Clawdia for a walk outside on Sunday afternoon, and she screamed bloody murder so loudly as we came through the lobby that two security officers (changing shifts) came to see what was wrong.  Clawdia, who likes people, was quite content to visit with them before we went on out the door.

Once we got outside, I put her down in the grassy area between our entrance and the office windows on the ground floor, but she knows where that door is, by golly!  And she hurried right back to it.  It opens automatically whenever I approach it, of course, but Clawdia is apparently too tiny for our electronic doors to notice.

Anyway, I carried her across the parking lot to grass that has dried out in patches from the excessive heat this summer.  As you can see in the photo, Clawdia chose to walk in the shade of our fence.  It probably feels extra hot if you are "wearing" black fur.  I was comfortable, even with temperatures in the 80s, because there was a breeze blowing through my hair.  After she led me along the fence to the street, Clawdia looked around, decided that's not the way home, and started back along the shade of the fence.

She's so smart, though, that she knew that wasn't where the door was (after all, we'd just come along that fence).  So she went between cars to the hot pavement of the parking lot.  Hot or not, she intended to cross it.  I picked her up, then put her down in the shade of the awning so she could lead us through the door to go back inside.

She refused to let me guide her to the elevator where we had exited earlier, though, because she remembered "the way" we used to go (before construction changed the landscape around the Crown Center) and marched through the lobby and around to the elevator's back door.  Yes, it took us up, up, up to our floor where Clawdia hurried off the elevator and turned toward our apartment.  When we got home, I gave her treats (for her ordeal, you know) and dished out vanilla ice cream for her and maple-walnut ice cream for me.  After 40-45 minutes outside, we deserved it!

Sunday Salon ~ reading and discussing books

Book o'clock?  For me, every day has some time for books and reading in it.

 

Sunday Salon is for online discussions among friends.  Are you part of a book club or online book discussion group?  Which do you prefer?  Sitting around a room in easy chairs?  Sitting around a table?  Having a ZOOM discussion so you can stay home?

Here's a link to 50 book club discussion questions, starting with ...

• How did the book make you feel?

... and going through different kinds of questions to ask, whether you discuss a novel or nonfiction.

• Which parts of the book stood out for you?
• What was your biggest takeaway from the book?
• If the story could be told by one of the other characters, which character’s perspective would you prefer to hear?
• Did you learn something you didn’t know before?

Thank you, Wondermom Wannabe.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.  

Other Sunday Salon musings are linked at the bottom of Deb's Readerbuzz post.

Wearing a mask

I lost one of my cloth masks, the purple one at the bottom.  I knew I'd had it earlier in the day.  I called the office.  No one had turned in a cloth mask.  Later, when I went out again, I found the purple mask hanging on the doorknob of an apartment down the hall from me, near the elevator.  I asked my neighbor Galina if she had picked it up and hung it on the door of that unoccupied apartment.  Yes, she had, thinking it was probably mine.

Some of us have worn TWO masks during this pandemic, doubling up with a paper mask under a cloth mask.  Some of us who are elderly and immunocompromised are still wearing masks, even when others have cast them aside.  As this sign shows, earlier in the pandemic the Crown Center required that we wear masks whenever we were outside our apartments.  If we didn't, it was considered a lease violation.

The disheartening news I read recently, though, now says cloth masks are "useless."  Yes, that's the word I read.  They are useless.  The article said we should be wearing N95 masks because droplets from SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) can get through a cloth mask too easily.  Today, I've been reading an AMA article entitled "What doctors wish patients knew about wearing N95 masks."  The article was published yesterday, so it is about as current as I can get.  Here's part of it:

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and other health professionals have continued to stress the everyday necessity and importance of wearing masks to protect against the spread of SARS-CoV-2.  While reusable cloth masks have been recommended until recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other experts acknowledge N95, KN95 or KF94 masks provide the most protection when in public indoor spaces given how transmissible the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is. ... N95 masks filter up to 95% of particles in the air when approved by NIOSH and proper fit can be achieved.  People should be aware, though, that about 60% of KN95 masks in the United States are counterfeit and do not meet NIOSH standards."

I currently have these two kinds of N95 masks — maybe I should call them "particulate respirators," but what a mouthful that would be!  And I have oodles of these blue medical masks, along with quite a few cloth masks.

Word of the Day #1

immunocompromised /ˌi-myə-nō-ˈkäm-prə-ˌmīzd / ˈIH-myoo-noh-ˈKOM-proh-mized / = Having a weakened immune system.  People who are immunocompromised have a reduced ability to fight infections and other diseases.  This may be caused by certain diseases or conditions, such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, malnutrition, and certain genetic disorders.  It may also be caused by certain medicines or treatments, such as anticancer drugs, radiation therapy, and stem cell or organ transplant.  Also called immunosuppressed.

Word of the Day #2

mouth·ful /ˈmouTHˌfo͝ol / noun = 1. a quantity of food or drink that fills or can be put in the mouth.  Example:  "He swallowed a mouthful of beer."  2. a long or complicated word or phrase that is difficult to say.  "Immunocompromised is almost too much of a mouthful for most of us to say."

By the way, I used that photo at the top of the four cloth masks in an earlier blog post, HERE.  You ask, why am I writing about masks on a book blog?  Because I'm thinking how nice it is that I can sit in my own apartment without a mask (or double mask) and read my books.  Okay, now back to my reading.

Beginning with Zoe — 2010

Beginning lines

May McConnaghy perches on the over-stuffed chaise in the drawing room and fans herself gently with the little booklet she's brought with her.  "Don't worry, you'll get used to the heat.  And once they get the air con working again you'll be just grand."

The Storyteller of Casablanca ~ by Fiona Valpy, 2021, historical fiction, 305 pages

Two people in Morocco, one in the early 1940s and one in 2010, seventy years apart.  Zoe is struggling with life when she finds a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s under the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom.  As she reads the diary, Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes.

(I also wrote about this book when I added it to my Kindle five months ago, HERE.)

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thoughts about a word ~ proclivity

pro·cliv·i·ty / prōˈklivədē,prəˈklivədē / noun = a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing.  Example:  "She shows a proclivity for hard work."

Have you ever used this word?  I have no idea when or how I learned it, but this morning I surprised myself when a sentence using that word ran through my mind.  I actually stopped and thought, where did THAT come from?  I later googled to confirm I had the correct meaning.

Thinking out loud

Do you keep a journal?  Do you write in it daily?  This blog is my "journal," which is wide open for anyone to read.  Here's an example:  Three days ago, I posted black-and-white photos of two families — both mine, but at different times in my life:  one showing me with my husband and our children, and one showing my parents with their first two children.  I'm the oldest, and my brother was the toddler in Daddy's lap.  The nice thing about journaling in a blog is being able to include photos like those.  Writing in a journal, as in this illustration, records my memories.  However, scrawling the words by pen is also less legible and cannot be corrected — well, except by marking through the words and leaving a mess.  Blogging my journal means I can share memories with my children and grandchildren.  And maybe even great-grandchildren years from now, unless Blogger deletes the whole thing.  It's kind of like I'm thinking out loud.  Okay, so I guess I'm weird, thinking of these kinds of things.

Oooh, I just remembered that Thinking Out Loud is the title of a book by Anna Quindlen, one of my favorite authors.  Here's the book, if you are interested:

Thinking Out Loud: On the Personal, the Political, the Public, and the Private ~ by Anna Quindlen, 1993, essays, 320 pages

Thinking out loud is what Anna Quindlen does best.  As a syndicated columnist with her finger on the pulse of women's lives, and her heart in a place we all share, she wrote about the passions, politics, and peculiarities of Americans everywhere.  From gays in the military, to the race for First Lady, to the trials of modern motherhood and the right to choose, Anna Quindlen's views always fascinate.

World Rainforest Day

June 22 is observed worldwide as World Rainforest Day.  Rainforests are home to more animals and plants than we can count, and they must be protected to keep our planet alive.  You know we must have oxygen to live, and it's the trees who produce our oxygen.

Re-reading a book ~ plus two more in the trilogy

Herland ~ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1915, literary fiction, 168 pages

This is a book I have read many times, usually re-reading it roughly every ten years.  When the title popped into my mind, I thought, "Time to read it again."  Then I found that I'd last read Herland on 6/21/17.  How funny!  That is exactly FIVE years ago to the day.  Only HALF a decade!  That proves I'm getting old, as if I need proof.  Anyway, I'm ready to read it yet another time.  I've read both of those versions shown above.  The one I have on my Kindle is on the left.

At the turn of the century, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 - August 17, 1935) was a celebrity — acclaimed as a leader in the feminist movement and castigated for her divorce, her relinquishment of custody of her daughter, and her unconventional second marriage.  She was also widely read, with stories in popular magazines and with dozens of books in print.  But her most famous short story, the intensely personal "The Yellow Wallpaper," read as a horror story when first published in 1891 and lapsed into obscurity before being rediscovered and reinterpreted by feminist scholars in the 1970s, and her landmark feminist utopian novel, Herland, remained unavailable for more than sixty years.  She was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform.  She was a utopian feminist and served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle.  Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis.  She was only 75 years old when she died on August 17, 1935.  I say "only 75" because I am now 82 years old.

PLOT:  The story is told from the perspective of Vandyck "Van" Jennings, a student of sociology who, along with two friends (Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave), forms an expedition party to explore an area of uncharted land where it is rumored lives a society consisting entirely of women.  The three friends do not entirely believe the rumors because they are unable to think of a way how human reproduction could occur without males. The men speculate about what a society of women would be like, each guessing differently based on the stereotype of women which he holds most dear:  Jeff regarding women as things to be served and protected; Terry viewing them as things to be conquered and won.

When the explorers reach their destination, they proceed with caution, hiding the biplane they arrive in, and trying to keep themselves hidden in the forests that border the land.  They are quickly found by three young women who they realize are observing them from the treetops.  After attempting to catch the girls with trickery, the men end up chasing the young women towards a town or village.  The women outrun them easily and disappear among the houses, which, Van notes are exceptionally well made and attractive.  After meeting the first inhabitants of this new land (which Van names Herland) the men proceed more cautiously, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile, and completely unafraid.

Their caution is warranted because as the men enter the town where the girls disappeared, they become surrounded by a large group of women who march them towards an official looking building.  The three men attempt an escape, but are swiftly and easily overpowered by the large group of women and eventually anesthetized.

The men awake to find themselves held captive in a fortress-like building.  They are given comfortable living accommodations, clean clothes, and food.  The women assign each man a tutor who teaches the men their language.  Van makes many notes about the new country and people, commenting that everything from their clothing to their furniture seems to be made with the twin ideals of pragmatism and aesthetics given equal consideration.  The women themselves appear intelligent and astute, unafraid and patient, with a notable lack of temper and seemingly limitless understanding for their captives.  The women are keen to learn about the world outside and question the men eagerly about all manner of things.  Often Van finds himself having difficulty justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cows, and the keeping of property, when faced with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build.

I decided to download the entire trilogy onto my Kindle and read all 341 pages in order:  The Herland Trilogy: Moving the Mountain, Herland, With Her in Ourland, 2015.  I have never read the first and last books, only Herland.

What time is it? It's time to...

And it's time for my Sunday Salon blog post.  I've been reading and posting and eating Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (I ate strawberry today) because it's been so hot, as in "heat advisory" hot.

Word of the Day

whet·stone /ˈ(h)wetˌstōn / noun = a fine-grained stone used for sharpening cutting tools.  Example:  "A good book is like a whetstone for dull wits."  The term is based on the word "whet", which means to sharpen a blade, not on the word "wet" (which people often say, one yesterday).

Colleen wrote a poem that begins:  "Put a pen in my hand / before you lower the casket."  I left this comment:  "Oh, Colleen, I love this!  Now I want to be buried with a pen in MY hand, too."  The thought put a smile on my face.  Okay, I know she wasn't being literal, but a pen does represent me and my love of words.  What better symbol than a pen?

The Report Card by Andrew Clements (2004, children's fiction, 173 pages, 10/10) makes the point that assigning grades causes some children to feel dumb.  Here are quotes from the main character, who is a genius, literally:

"Not wanting to be pushed to 'achieve' all the time was not some psychological problem I was having.  It was an intelligent choice" (p. 98).

"I wasn't just worried about getting good grades or bad grades.  I was worried about grades themselves, about the whole idea of grades.  Because grades and test scores can make kids feel like winners or losers.  And I don't like that.  Because I saw some kids start thinking they were dumb after we all took the Mastery Tests last year.  And they weren't dumb, not at all.  So I wanted to do something about that" (p. 164).

"And that stuff about working up to my full potential — who gets to say what my full potential is?  An IQ test?  Shouldn't I have something to say about what I want to accomplish?" (p. 169).

Today is Father's Day, so it seems appropriate that I re-post this picture of me and my children with their father.  It was taken in the mid-1960s.  He died in 2011.

And here I am, a bit younger (LOL), sitting between my parents with my brother in the mid-40's.  This brother died in 2017.  My parents died decades ago.  I remember "hiding" under that dining room table (behind my brother) and playing with my siblings there.

Saturday evening, Sharon (who live on my floor) sent me these 25 playful puns, saying, "You like words...."  Yes, I do.  Thanks.

1.  Dad, are we pyromaniacs?  Yes, we arson.

2.  What do you call a pig with laryngitis?  Disgruntled.

3.  Writing my name in cursive is my signature move.

4.  Why do bees stay in their hives during winter? Swarm.

5.  If you're bad at haggling, you'll end up paying the price.

6.  Just so everyone's clear, I'm going to put my glasses on.

7.  A commander walks into a bar and orders everyone around.

8.  I lost my job as a stage designer.  I left without making a scene.

9.  Never buy flowers from a monk.  Only you can prevent florist friars.

10.  How much did the pirate pay to get his ears pierced?  A buccaneer.

11.  I once worked at a cheap pizza shop to get by.  I kneaded the dough.

12.  My friends and I have named our band 'Duvet.'  It's a cover band.

13.  I lost my girlfriend's audiobook, and now I'll never hear the end of it.

14.  Why is 'dark' spelled with a k and not c?  Because you can't see in the dark.

15.  Why is it unwise to share your secrets with a clock?  Well, time will tell.

16.  When I told my contractor I didn't want carpeted steps, they gave me a blank stare.

17.  Bono and The Edge walk into a Dublin bar and the bartender says, "Oh no, not U2 again."

18.  Prison is just one word to you, but for some people, it's a whole sentence.

19.  Scientists got together to study the effects of alcohol on a person's walk, and the result was staggering.

20.  I'm trying to organize a hide and seek tournament, but good players are really hard to find.

21.  I got over my addiction to chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts.  I won't lie, it was a rocky road.

22.  What do you say to comfort a friend who's struggling with grammar?  There, their, they're.

23.  I went to the toy store and asked the assistant where the Schwarzenegger dolls are, and he replied, "Aisle B, back."

24.  What did the surgeon say to the patient who insisted on closing up their own incision?  Suture self.

25.  I've started telling everyone about the benefits of eating dried grapes.  It's all about raisin awareness.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.  

Other Sunday Salon musings are linked at the bottom of Deb's Readerbuzz post.

Nora on the piano

Nora, the piano cat, gives us a different kind of concert.

 

If this video quits working, go to YouTube.  Read more about Nora, the piano cat on Wikipedia.  Here's a different "concert" by Nora:  Listen to Nora play a sequel.

Good food, shared with good friends

Doesn't this Summer Peach Salad look delicious?  It's what I plan to have for lunch today in our Circle@Crown Café.  In October, I posted the Fall Special, which was called the Autumn Pear Salad.  It was wonderful.  I happened to glance out my window this morning and noticed the rabbi (who certifies that the food in the Café is kosher) speaking to one of the construction workers putting up our new building.  The rabbi went back into the Café and came out with a menu (yes, I could recognize it even from my sixth floor window), which he handed across the fence to the construction guy.  Everybody is promoting the Café, it seems.  Makes me smile.  (Thanks, Randi, for sending me the photo.)

Beginning ~ in ancient times

Introduction

"In ancient times, Jerusalem was often portrayed as the center of the world.  After all, it is a city with holy places for the three major Western religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Many of the events that took place there are recorded in the Bible, especially in stories about King David and King Solomon."

Next Year in Jerusalem: 3000 Years of Jewish Stories ~ by Howard Schwartz, illustrated by Neil Waldman, 1996, short stories, 64 pages

Celebrating the three-thousandth anniversary of the founding of Jerusalem, eleven folktales, fairy tales, and legends depict a city in which the ancient and modern worlds exist side by side.  Jerusalem is a city that captures the imagination.  It is a city with a vibrant and often violent history, a city where the ancient and the modern exist side by side, and the subject of many timeless stories that evoke its unique spirit.  From the back cover:  "Some of the best of these Jewish folktales, fairy tales, and Rabbinic and Hasidic legends are gathered together here in a celebration of the city in which everything is holy, even the dust under one's feet."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about scams and phishing

Lauree Peterson-Sakai (on the left) returned to the Crown Center yesterday to keep us up-to-date about current frauds and schemes targeting seniors for their money.  We met in the Fitness Center to learn how to be proactive in protecting ourselves against scams such as the Romance, Lottery, and Granny Scams.  Laura Greenberg's title here at Crown is Community Engagement Manager.

Lauree is an Aging Advocate focused on the aging population and ways to protect and prevent abuse Recently retired from a career in the financial industry, she is now the Board Chair of VOYCE, which provides advocacy services to those living in long-term care communities.

Money Smart for Older Adults: Resource Guide ~ by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2019, financial guide, 100 pages

Recently updated, this guide, in easy-to-read 14 point font, provides information on common frauds, scams, and other forms of elder financial exploitation and suggests steps that older persons and their caregivers can take to avoid being targeted or victimized.  Every senior who attended the class was given a copy of this book.

Wednesday Words ~ wallah, ta-da, and voilà

I was reading a book and came across the word "wallah," which I assumed was a misspelling of voilà, which sounds like "wallah" (with a "V" sound in front of it).  The problem was that, even though I had decided the author mean to write "voilà," I could not for the life of me come up with the spelling of "voilà."  I kept thinking that the word starts with a "V" and means the same thing as saying "ta-da!"  So I called my friend Sharon, a translator who is fluent in six languages (German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, and Vlaams) besides her native English.  When I said, "Wallah," she immediately replied, "Voilà" and spelled the word for me (V-O-I-L-A).  Yep, that's the word I wanted!  Thank you, Sharon.

I googled these three definitions to help make some sense of what I'm saying here:

1. Wallah is an Arabic word meaning "I swear by God" used to make a promise or express great credibility.  Allah is the name of God in Islam, and we can see it's part of this word.  Example:  "Wallah, I'm telling the truth."
2. Ta-da comes from the Bulgarian or Slavic words for "ta + da" (та да!) meaning "that there."  It is an exclamation used in magic shows by magicians to announce the conclusion of the trick or the illusion to the audience.  It's the equivalent of the French word voilà.  Example:  "Ta-da!" the woman exclaimed. when she finally found her favorite mixing bowl.
3. Voilà / vwäˈlä / is used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic, says Merriam-Webster.  Example:  As he pulls a rabbit out of his hat, that magician in the illustration above shouts, "Voilà!"  (In another place I found:  Voilà is a French borrowing into English that has mostly retained is Francophonic pronunciation:  \vwä-ˈlä\, or \vwah-LAH\.)

So I was right.  I came up with the word's ta-da equivalent, but just could NOT come up with the one word I wanted.  If I had just looked up the definition of ta-da when I thought of it, I would have found what I wanted right there in its definition:  voilà!  But I did have a nice talk with Sharon.

Two things to do

I have two things on my To-Do list today:

1. Take the Crown Center bus to go grocery shopping at 1:00 pm.  (We had to use the van because the bus was needing some repairs, which meant TWO trips there and TWO trips home to accommodate all of us.)
2. Mocktails on Tallin Green in mid-afternoon.  (This was moved inside the Café because of the heat advisory in St. Louis.)