Wednesday Word

Jenn, her husband Don, and their son Drew dropped by to meet me in 2010 on their trip home to St. Louis from Atlanta or Florida or somewhere in the South.  You are probably wondering why I am remembering their short visit now.  Well, because I butt-dialed Jenn yesterday.  (Sorry, Jenn.)  Oh, sorry if any readers are offended by that word.  It's now officially in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  Here's their definition:

Verb:  place an unintended call to (someone) from a mobile phone (as by sitting on a phone placed in a back pocket) when the phone is not in use.

*Note:  I'm the one who lives in St. Louis now, and Jenn has moved to Arizona.

Six degrees of separation in real life

Wow, what a story Helen shared today on her blog — Six Degrees of Separation: Real Life Edition.  I've been in awe about how people blogging about books have become friends without ever having met face to face.  Like my meeting with Donna, who became my best friend.  A quarter of a century ago we joined Oprah's book club when we read Oprah's very first book choice.  That was in 1996.  What are the chances we'd ever have met?  Almost zilch.  Donna lived in St. Louis, I lived in Chattanooga, and nothing would likely have ever gotten us together.  Except we were both readers.  I've met several others from that Oprah discussion group, gone to visit in the homes of a few, met others passing through my town on their way south, etc.  Meeting other readers has enriched my life:

• Though I've never met her in person, I've talked to Margreet in the Netherlands by phone and "looked around her neighborhood" via Google maps.
• Jenn was living in Europe when we "met"; years later, she and her husband and son visited me in Tennessee on their way home to St. Louis from Florida.  Now they live in Phoenix, and I live in St Louis.
• Francesca and her family stopped for lunch with me and others on this list on their way south.
• Jelani visited me from California and sang at my church.
• I visited Kathryn at her home in Connecticut.
• I met Annette during her stopover at the Atlanta airport; she now lives in Oregon.
• I visited with Nancy at a restaurant at the beach.
• Donna and I stayed overnight with Maggie's family in Maryland when we met her in person.
• I flew to Connecticut to visit Mary Grace and her family in 2001.
• Stephanie was driving through my town with her family and and stopped for a short visit.
• When my mother died, several of our close-knit, online book group sent flowers together.
• And I also "know" Rosemary and Madge and Marg in Australia and a few more whose names I'm probably missing here.

April foolishness? Not much of that around here

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)

ACTIVITIES

Google has assembled links to many, many museums all over the world in their Arts and Culture collection.  You could spend days exploring the world.  Even just looking through the list of places could take hours.  Pleasurable hours.  Take a look.  I noticed that the World Chess Hall of Fame here in St. Louis is on the list.  Clarence House in London may be of interest to my Brit-loving friend Joy.  One called Frogs and Friends in Germany may intrigue a child bored by having to stay home all day, every day — and it may be fun for the inner child in each of us.  You can choose to visit museums in the Netherlands, Croatia, Mongolia, Israel, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Italy (yes, it's safe to visit Italy online), Slovakia, Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Japan, Sweden, and (oh, yes) the United States.  And that's just a tiny sampling of what Google has put together.

View from one of my windows in 2014

CONNECTING

Once again, my neighbor Galina and I talked across our hallway when David delivered three meals to each of us.  The 2-page information sheet he also brought gives tips for getting through this time of isolation.  Here are a few, summarized:

• Washers and dryers are now free for us to use, but please take turns being in the laundry rooms in order to practice social distancing.
• Take turns using the elevators, too.  Not all jammed in together.
• Allow only one crucial caregiver to visit, not family or friends or other guests.
• If you have gloves and a mask available, use them when you must go out.
• Even if you're not already part of Crown's meal delivery program, this is a great time to participate.  It isn't exactly "room service," but you can sign up for it and start getting it from now on.
• The pages also had cheery notes from some of the staff working from home:  Theresa ~ "Isn't it weird that you can trust your dog to guard your home, but not your sandwich?"  Megan's 5-year-old ~ "Hi, everybody at mama's work!  I miss the cookies from your cafe.  I hope everyone is safe.  Miss you, love you, bye!"

Jenn and Bonnie

I love the shout-out from Megan's child.  I also chatted with Donna and Jenn on Facebook, two conversations going at the same time, with one person in the same complex with me and one who used to live in St. Louis years ago.  The only time Jenn and I ever met in person was at the end of 2010, when she and her family were returning to St. Louis from Florida and stopped to visit me while they were passing through my town.  It feels like yesterday.

Marie phoned and we chatted for over half an hour.  Susan called while I was on the phone, but didn't leave a message and didn't answer when I returned her call.  Faye Stickney "has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet," so I didn't get through to her.  Even while "sheltering in place," I'm in contact with a lot of people, including Laura, who called me earlier.

I've been chatting on Facebook today with Laurie, who was working on the puzzle I posted yesterday.  Then I got a friend request from Gina and chatted with HER for awhile.  She now has children about the age she was when I last saw her.  More people are home, and we have more time to reach out to folks we haven't seen in awhile.  And while talking to Gina on Facebook, I got an email from Joanne, which said:

"Trying to get in touch.  I hope this reaches you and that you are well!  It has been over 2 years since the last email I received from you, Christmas 2017.  Please forgive me for not keeping in contact.  I retired from the library in May 2018 and have been quite content in retirement.  If you receive this email, I would love to hear from you!"

I called and left voicemail for Joanne and also emailed her.  She called while I was still "talking" on Facebook with Gina.  And now it's almost an hour and a half later, and I'm finally going to post this on the blog.  I enjoyed talking to you, Joanne.  Catching up was fun to do.

Jane Eyre from the National Theatre in London

MORE ACTIVITIES

After Laura and I talked by phone, she sent me information to share with everyone about National Theatre at Home.  The website says, "Enjoy world-class theatre online while we're closed."  Click here for more about the shows being streamed.

• "One Man, Two Guvnors" ~ April 2-9
• "Jane Eyre" ~ April 9-16
• "Treasure Island" ~ April 16-23
• "Twelfth Night" ~ April 23-30

What have you been doing today?  Have you connected or re-connected?

Meeting book buddies

Jelani visiting the Sahara

Today's Armchair BEA topic:  Share a positive "real life" experience with books, either by way of your own partnerships in your community, a book signing you went to, or possibly even a get together with fellow book bloggers.  Tell us all about it!

I've been meeting other book lovers for years (click blue links to read more about them).  While discussing Oprah's books in the 1990s, a group of us coalesced and called ourselves the Book Buddies.

Francesca

One August Sunday in 1998, several buddies came to Chattanooga — Jelani from California, Francesca and her family from Michigan, and Donna from St. Louis — so we could all meet each other.  We converged on my church, where I preached and Jelani provided the special music.  He has a beautiful voice!  And then we ate lunch around a big table and talked for a couple of hours or so.

Donna (above left) and I then drove up the east coast to visit three other buddies — Maggie (above right), Meg, and Nancy.  Maggie took in two strangers overnight, though we had all been getting acquainted online for more than two years.  All the people I've met are as wonderful in person as they are online.

Let's see, I dined with June @ Spatter when she was in Chattanooga with her friend (now my friend) Carla in 2008.  In the meantime, Carla has moved here, was at my New Year's Day party, and we ran into each other on Monday while having lunch with other friends.  Moving right along ... I met Susan @ Patchwork Reflections on an extremely hot day in 2007 at the Mudpie, a little restaurant on the North Shore.

Jenn and Bonnie

Jenn dropped by my house on the last day of 2010, with her husband and youngest child.  They were on their way to St. Louis from Atlanta, and Chattanooga just happens to be on that route.

Stephanie

Stephanie @ Confessions of a Bookaholic had her husband and all three of their kids with her, when they stopped in Chattanooga for a visit.  They were on their way home from a vacation.

Marylyn

This is Marylyn, who is a Marine as well as a book lover.  She had this pink scooter while stationed in South Korea.  When she's home on leave, she sometimes drives up from Georgia to visit family — and me! — in Chattanooga.  She's part of my online Book Buddies group.

Margreet

If phone calls count as "meeting," I have talked to Margreet in the Netherlands several times.  I also talked to the famous Dewey of Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon.  I've met more bloggers, but that's all I can think of, at the moment.

Annette

UPDATES
(as my memory brings others to mind):

A few years ago, I drove to Atlanta with Donna (above) to meet Annette.  We had a good visit that day, before Annette flew home to California.  She and most of these I've pictured in this post are now Facebook friends, so we have gotten to know each other well over the years.  (That includes lots of book friends I have never met face to face.)  Sorry, Annette, but it took our FB exchange to remind me! 

Margie

And now I need to add Margie from Southern California and Hawaii.  I've talked to her by phone as well.

Even after Madge left the first comment on this post, I forgot to add her to this list.  We have also been in touch by phone and, as you can see by her picture below, Madge has a great sense of humor.  The English part of the sign says, "No Turning over, Please."  So it looks like Madge is "climbing" over, instead.

Madge in Japan