Remembering a long-ago Saturday

The long-ago Saturday that is on my mind today was February 28, 1959.  Let's see, 2026 minus 1959 is 67 years ago.  That's the day I married.  I remember as we left the church, that car-loads of friends were lined up to follow us.  We got into our "getaway" car driven by a friend, but went straight through it to another friend's car going in the opposite direction.  Yep, we almost got away, except for those who happened to be parked going in that direction.  I no longer remember details, but I do remember divorcing him 14 years and three children later (also in February).  The three children, all married now, gave me seven grandchildren.  The first one made me a grandparent on grandparents day.  And now I have six GREAT-grandchildren).  This photo includes four generations (I'm wearing red):

Dark skies ~ sun rays later

My twin daughters are taking their time coming to visit me, partly because of the weather where they are driving right now.  They sent me this photo of dark skies.  Later, they sent the one below.  Two daughters, two views of the sky.

The Thinker is thinking thoughts today, and so am I

It is supper time, and I haven't yet posted my thoughts for today.  The Thinker is reminding me to share some thoughts.  Okay.  Sue and I planned to have lunch together, but I decided to go down to our Circle@Crown Cafe early to have my breakfast when they opened at 8:00 a.m.

Alice McC. joined me at my table.  When Sandy M. showed up, I invited her to sit with us because today's her birthday.  Sue arrive a little before 11:00, as she had planned to do, and joined those of us already sitting there.

When I got a call from Sandra H. asking if I'd like to meet her in the Cafe (she lives in the neighborhood near here), I told her I was already in the Cafe, so come join us.  She was coming to the Crown Center for a program that met at 1:00, but she had time to eat with us before it started.

So my friends from here and there just came and went all morning, and I ended up being in the Cafe with various people as they met each other and left for their own activities.  Do you wonder how long I was in the Cafe?  From 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as those folks chatted and ate together.

When I finally headed home, after walking around the block (going the long way home to get in my steps, in other words), I ran into Dora H. sitting in the lobby and sat down to talk to her awhile.  Other friends stopped to speak to us as they passed by us, like Alyssa with her dog Hazel, and Betty B. who sat down to talk.

I think I got in a good day's worth of socializing:  Alice, Sandy, Sue, Sandra, Dora, Alyssa, Hazel (yes, dogs count), and Betty.  And these don't count the ones we said hello to as they came and went through the lobby.

Alone vs. Lonely ~ and words coined by kids

Collins Dictionary has this in a section for people learning English, but I think it's interesting for the rest of us to ponder, as well.  Here are quotes from their page:

"If you are alone, you are not with any other people."

 "If you are lonely, you are unhappy because you don’t have anyone to talk to."

As I think of these differences, I come up with my own examples:

I live alone (except for my cat), and I'm not unhappy about that.  I can talk to other people by picking up my phone or going down to eat in our Circle@Crown Café.

It's also likely that I don't feel lonely in my apartment because it's filled with books, and those books are filled with characters who "come alive" as I read.

Words coined by kids

Somebody wondered what a boy meant when he said "a double kid."  Hey, it's a perfect way to describe identical twins.  In that case, I have "a double daughter."  As you can see (on the right), they visited the Arch in St. Louis.  It looks like they were wearing identical sunglasses and had been slurping identical treats.

One child calls an exclamation mark a "yell mark!"  A cactus should be known as a "sharpie."  A mom said her kids called the baby monitor the "momitor," and that makes sense.  Saying hand sanitizer is "hanitizer" is also logical, and calling a ham sandwich a "hamwich" is perfect.

You may put parmesan cheese on your spaghetti, but one child asks for "Farmer John cheese" on hers.  Three guesses what "yummy bears" are.  Have you ever visited the "Vampire State Building"?  If you travel, you could visit "Africa, Asia, and Syrup" (known to most of us as Europe).

Joyful thoughts for Thursday

1.  Look what I got in the mail:  A package from my daughter that was wrapped in JOY.

2.  Time for a confession.  Everyone knows that old age is our "second childhood," and everyone also knows that you can't trust children around Christmas gifts.

3.  When I realized my daughter didn't actually say it was for Christmas, even though she used Christmas wrapping paper, I went ahead and opened the gift.

4.  And what was inside?  More JOY, which is now hung on the wall where I will see it every day.

5.  When I texted her to thank her, she wrote back that she wanted me to have a bit of Christmas.

6.  I told her I'll hang JOY on my cart, when I go to the Circle@Crown Café to eat.

7.  Oh, by the way, Clawdia wanted to play with that tassel on the bottom.  Nope, nope, nope!  This one's not for you, Clawdia.

8.  Let's make more connections to the word JOY, some of which I have shared before.  It's my favorite word, for one thing.

9.  Why?  Partly because I've spent a lot of time with this word; to wit:  I presented a paper on "Joy or Despair?" at the Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference held at Emory University back in the early 1970s.  I asked why existentialists seemed to focus on despair (Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus come to mind).  If, as they say, we find our own meaning in life, why not choose joy?

10.  One of my favorite phrases from the Bible is "make a joyful noise," so when I started a church newsletter, I named it Joyful Noiseletter.

11.  I was so "into" the meaning of joy during my undergraduate years that my best friend addressed my mail to "Bonnie Joy Jacobs."

12.  When my bank got its first teller machine, telling us to choose four letters or numbers to access it, I considered using B-J-O-Y.  My young daughter Barbara said, "But Mom, anybody could figure out that's what you would pick." 

13.  At the top of my blog about words, I have these words:  "Joyful Noiseletter — an exuberant newsletter to myself about joyful things, like words, which I enjoy."

Looking at four generations

This family photo was taken in 2011.  I also posted it HERE.  I am standing next to my grandson; my daughter and my son (and his wife) are sitting in the chairs holding THEIR grandchildren.  My grandson's wife (mother of the youngest of my great-grandchildren at the time) is over there beside the Coke machine.  That's FOUR generations, and I'm the great-grandmother.  It's still hard to imagine myself the mother of grandparents.  I have seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren now.

This photo of me with my twin daughters was taken in 2016, when they visited me in St. Louis.  I also posted it HERE.  I enjoy sharing family photos with my friends, who also share pictures of their families.  We're proud grandparents and great-grandparents.

Words for a rainy day

My daughter posted this photo on Facebook, saying:  "I am a 'pluviophile'…… a lover of rain."  I responded with a link to my recent post about flooding inside my apartment from the 7.68-inches of rain in six hours in St. Louis, which was about 25% of our normal yearly rainfall total in just 12 hours.  That rainy day made history.  I left this comment on her post:  "Some rain (like the history-making rainfall that hit St. Louis this week) makes us tend to lean in the opposite direction."

Word of the Day #1

pluviophile = The word pluviophile comes from the Latin word "pluvial," which means rain, and "phile," which denotes a thing or a person.  Therefore, a pluviophile is a lover of rain, or someone who finds joy and peace of mind during the rainy days.  Example:  My daughter is a pluviophile.

Word of the Day #2

pluviophobia = fear of weather related to rain, including storms, wind, thunder, and lightning.  This is a neologism, but there's already a word for fear of rain:  ombrophobia (see definitions below).

Word of the Day #3

ne·ol·o·gism /nēˈäləˌjizəm/ noun = a newly coined word or expression.

Word of the Day #4

Ombrophobia is an intense fear of rain, from intense weather to a drizzle.  An ombrophobe might worry about acid rain, germs in rain, floods, or other dangers.  Ombrophobia is a type of anxiety disorder that can cause symptoms and emotions that affect daily life.

Looking back, on this Easter Sunday

My children on Easter 1967 with their Easter baskets.

  

Same three on April 4, 2010, but he got taller than his sisters.

Information, Please

When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood.  I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall.  The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box.  I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person.  Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know.  Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.  My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor.  Amusing myself at the tool bench in the base-ment, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.  I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway.

The telephone!  Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing.  Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear.  "Information, please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.  A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

"Information."
"I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone.  The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.
"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.
"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.
"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.
"No, "I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."
"Can you open the icebox?" she asked.
I said I could.
"Then chip off a little bit of ice, and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything.  I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was.  She helped me with my math.  She told me my pet chipmunk, that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died.  I called, "Information Please," and told her the sad story.  She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child.  But I was not consoled.

I asked her, “Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, “Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please."

"Information," said in the now familiar voice.

"How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest.  When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston.  I missed my friend very much.  "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home, and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall.  As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.  Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then.  I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle.  I had about a half-hour or so between planes.  I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now.  Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please."

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well.  "Information."

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause.  Then came the soft -spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."

I laughed.  "So it's really you," I said.  "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"

"I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me.  I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years, and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do," she said.  "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later, I was back in Seattle.  A different voice answered, saying, "Information."  I asked for Sally.

"Are you a friend?" she said.

"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said.  "Sally had been working part time the last few years because she was sick.  She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up, she said, "Wait a minute.  Is your name Wayne?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called.  Let me read it to you.  The note said, “Tell Wayne there are other worlds to sing in.  He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up.  I knew what Sally meant.  Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.  Whose life have you touched today?

======================================

End of story.  It brought tears to my eyes again, even though I've heard it before, probably several times over the years.  I'm old enough to remember seeing phones like that hand-crank one at the top.  We had a yellow kitchen phone like this on our kitchen wall.  I can also remember "information, please" from my childhood and having party lines.  One of my daughters still has a phone on her wall, even though they each have a smart phone.  As you can see in the photo below, it's on the wall around the corner from her own artwork.

======================================

Meditating on Monday

There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what God's name is.  God was gracious enough to answer, and the name God gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.  Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an "a" and an "e" in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.  But scholars and rabbis have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants.  When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.

YH (inhale), WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, that first breath, speaks the name of God.  A deep sigh calls God's name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words.  Even an atheist would speak God's name, unaware that their very breathe is giving constant acknowledgment to God.  Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling their lungs.  So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out God's name, since being alive means I speak the name of God constantly.

So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?  In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs.  In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst.  In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down.  When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.  Breathing, then, is praising God, even in the hardest moments.  God chose a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive.  All of us, always, everywhere.  Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.

❤️  Thanks to my daughter Sandra for posting this (edited) meditation was written by Sandra Thurman Caporale from the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston.  The graphic artist is unknown.

Tradition?

A "time-honored practice"?  Here's another definition:

Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.

Think about the traditions in your family.

Do you hate any of them ... and do them anyway?

Or have you chosen to let some fall by the wayside?

Thinking about tradition reminds me of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof."

Click that link to watch the video of him singing that song.

I have my own tradition about books:  I re-read the really good ones.  I have just added this book to my Kindle because I haven't read it in awhile.  The cover Amazon showed me is NOT the cover of the paperback copy I've read in the past (more than once), but here's the latest cover.

The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge ~ by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, 1966, sociology, 189 pages (before the copious notes)

In this seminal book, Berger and Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society.  Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, the authors go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge — the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people.  When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term "social construction," effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

My grandson has gotten a doctorate in physical therapy.

His parents (and the rest of the family) are very proud of him.

Sept. 25 is National Daughters Day

Today is National Daughters Day.  I have two daughters, who are identical twins.  This photo was taken when my twins visited me in St. Louis in 2016.  Can you see the family resemblance?  Actually, I do have another daughter (hyphenated, that is):  my daughter-in-law, who just had a birthday this week. Happy, Happy Birthday to you!  (Yes, I sang to her on her actual birthday.)

Friendship, an owl, piano lessons, and kayaking

National Women's Friendship Day has been observed the third Sunday in September since 1999.  So today, as the name suggests, is our day to express gratitude for all our women friends.  Let's share some names (it's okay to share only first names).  Who is your best friend?  Or which woman has been your friend the longest — and still is?  Ginny is the one I thought of first.  I met Ginny in August 1955, when I started high school by attending marching band practice at City High School (CHS).  Officially, CHS means Chattanooga High School.  Ginny was a year ahead of me in school, and we are only the same age from April until August, when she gains a year.  She has visited me here in St. Louis, and I've visited her in Tallahassee.  Let's see, 1955 to 2021 is ... wow! ... 66 years that we've been friends!  Love ya, Ginny!

A gorgeous owl ~ Someone shared this photo of an owl on NextDoor, our neighborhood group.  Those who chimed in seem to agree that it's a barred owl, after arguing that it is not a barn owl (which is smaller) or a great horned owl (which is larger and "has feather tufts on its head — the so-called horns").  Anyway, I think this is a beautiful picture of an owl, whatever kind it is.

Learn to Play Piano in Six Weeks or Less ~ by Dan Delaney and Bill Chotkowski, 2009, self-help, 111 pages.  

I've made the photo small because I'm not happy with this book.  It is not really a beginner's book, but a fake book.  Do you know what that is?

fake book /fāk bo͝ok/ noun = a book of music containing the basic chord sequences of jazz or other tunes.

The first sentence in the Introduction even admits that it's a fake book:

"Throw away your bass clef and give your left hand a break — melodies in the right hand, chords and rhythms in the left hand."

This looks like a beginner's book, and in one sense it is.  But the women who bought it so I can teach them how to play the piano will be learning only half of what I expected to teach them.  It's something.  It's a beginning of sorts, but I feel like I'll have to either come up with a way to teach them how to play with the left hand or get us "real" piano books that teach fingering for the bass clef.

My daughters have taken up kayaking.

No, I wasn't out on the water with them. 

One of them took this photo of the other.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The 

Sunday Salon.  Bloggers gather in the 

Sunday Salon — at separate computers 

in different time zones — to talk about 

our lives, our books, and our reading.

Earth Day ~ April 22

I took part in the first Earth Day in 1970 on my college campus.  I came home with information and handouts that day, including one that said "Stop at Two," meaning two children to replace the two parents so we don't overpopulate our earth.  My 6-year-old son nodded and said, "That's a good idea" (or something like that).  I said to him, "David . . . think about it."  I have been pregnant twice, but my first "baby" turned out to be identical twins.  David was born three years later, making him number three.  His eyes widened as realization hit him.

I've celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd every year since then, but I never use the "Stop at Two" slogan.  Never.  David may have taken the advice seriously, though.  He and his wife have two children, a boy and a girl.  Each of his sisters also had two, a girl and a boy.  One twin later remarried and had one other daughter, but that is still only one child per parent.  That youngest grandchild happened to be born on — wait for it! — April 22nd.  Happy birthday today!  What a great coincidence, huh?

Our world is in worse shape now than it was a half century ago when Earth Day was first celebrated.  We need to do more to care for Mother Earth.  I recycle cans and bottles and paper, and I try to avoid anything that may pollute our environment.  What are you doing to save the only planet we have?  Here are a few ways to make a difference.

Click on this image to enlarge it.

You made me smile ~ thank you

On this penultimate day of a difficult year, I felt I should thank all of you who made me smile this year.  You are one of them, so here's a big

THANK YOU

for being you.  Special thanks for smiles from these family members during the holidays:  Getting that "Peace on Earth" card with a peace dove on it (above) from Sandra made me smile.

Getting this Christmas card on Monday from Barbara made me smile, once the US Postal Service began to catch up with their overload of holiday mail and got it delivered.

Getting the toilet paper Christmas tree from Brandy that I shared with you on Friday made me smile.

Getting a card from Whitney's family in the mail addressed only to "Grandma Bonnie" (without my last name) actually made me laugh out loud.  I love all of you, including family that I didn't mention in this post, and I enjoyed ALL the cards people sent me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

(Did you notice I'm already practicing my focus words for 2021?  The first two are Gratitude and Love.)

Day 266 since lockdown = 38 weeks

This is actually a doormat.  My daughter Sandra had a photo from the mid-1960s of me and my three children put on a doormat for me.  We were at Signal Point that day, overlooking the Tennessee River.  The city of Chattanooga is off to the left behind me.  This surprise arrived in the mail yesterday.

Gotta brag a little

My daughter shared her painting of a Christmas tree on Facebook today.  Click to enlarge it and see details better.

I love her Christmas tree!  Her black phone on the wall around the corner is a vintage phone like the ones I blogged about on Thursday.

Exploring the world

The only way I have traveled since March this year is online.  In July, I discovered WindowSwap and have clicked on it occasionally ever since, jumping to random windows all over the world.  Recently, I learned about View from My Window on Facebook, where over 200,000 of us share a view from our own windows, limited to one post a day per person.  I've only posted once so far, sharing a photo of Clawdia in her favorite window.  Click on my blue links to see for yourself.

Another way I get around is to Google the places where I used to live.  Today, I went back to take a look at the first house we bought just before the twins were born sixty years ago.  The house looks pretty much the same, but the trees in the front yard are different and they've added a deck that we didn't have.  Over the years, I have walked the neighborhood where I grew up, looked at my old school buildings, and visited a friend in the Netherlands whom I've never met.  I've never been in her country, either, except via Google maps.  It's fun; try it.

Face masks

Vincent van Gogh would have a problem in our masked world of 2020.  I hope you are still wearing a mask and staying socially distanced when you go out.  To make your face mask fit better, watch the tutorial video at the end of this short article.

Bookish things

I haven't read much this week, but I did borrow The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult from my friend Donna.  I am still reading a Maisie Dobbs book right now, but I'll share more about this latest book by Jodi Picoult in a Book Beginnings on Friday post.

Bloggers gather in The Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Happy 60th Birthday to my twins

Happy Birthday to you both, from your proud mama,

with lots of love coming your way today and always.

There's a cat licking your birthday cake

Here's the birthday girl, wearing my face mask "uniform" as usual when leaving my apartment.  Notice the tissue in hand for punching elevator buttons, so as not to waste a disposable glove just to take the elevator down once and back up.  Donna had ordered me birthday dinner from Panera — Fuji Apple Salad with chicken and apple chips, and a blueberry muffin for dessert.  I met her where deliveries are left on that table next to me because outsiders may no longer roam the halls of the Crown Center.  We met the delivery guy there and each took food to our apartments to eat, all socially distanced to stay safe.

I'll show you what I ate, and it was delicious.  I shared a few nibbles of the chicken with Clawdia.  Maybe it's because they are trying to be extra good to any customers they can get right now, but it seemed to me there were more of all the goodies in the salad today — more sliced up tiny tomatoes, more feta crumbles, more pecans, even more of the chicken.  It was very delicious.  Clawdia concurs.


Donna sent me a singing birthday card, and I've found it on YouTube for you.  If the video here quits working, click on the link to view it there.  The words are appropriate, since Clawdia would act just like these cats.

Cats on an antique player piano

As if one musical card weren't enough, I got another lively one from Mary Grace (Gigi) entitled "Kit Cat Boogie."  She wrote:

"Happy Birthday!  Hope you'll boogie on your birthday, Bonnie!  Last picture I saw of you, you looked well and happy — hope that is still the case.  Enjoy your special day.  xxoogg"

Yes, I'm doing well and have been doing the boogie all over my little apartment today.  My cat didn't lick my cake when I ate a little Hostess cake for lunch.  For breakfast, I ate a small can of Vienna sausages and the last three green olives left in the jar.  There's a back-story for that.

When I was ten, I went off to summer camp with my cousin Carolyn, who's a year older than I am.  Mother sent me a care package that week, and in it were a can of vienna sausages and some green olives.  She knew I loved those special treats.  So for my breakfast today, I gave myself a treat from my childhood and thought about what my Mom sent me seventy years ago. 

Marie brought me a gift last night and, wearing our masks, she handed off the bag she'd used to bring it up to me and backed off across the hall.  I had a hard time deciding whether to open it last night — who would know, right? — or wait for my actual birthday.  I did manage to wait to discover a wooden box full of Tea Drops.  On the side are directions:  "Pour in boiling water, add Tea Drop, stir and enjoy."  Tea Drops, it says, "are pressed teas made with genuine tea leaves that dissolve in hot water."  And inside are five kinds of tea:

• Citrus Ginger
• Sweet Peppermint
• Blueberry Acai
• Rose Earl Grey
• Matcha Green Tea

I've had so many text messages and phone calls and long conversations that I had to recharge my phone at midday:  Barbara, Sandra, David, Sheila G., Susan, Sandy.  I got Facebook birthday wishes from Sylvia, three books shopped off her own shelf from Donna (stay-home orders, you know), and these birthday cards from Donna, Miriam, and Marie.

When Clawdia woke from her latest cat nap, we ventured out into the sunshine for the walk she's been wanting for days.  Miriam called happy birthday to me from a distance, while she was out sitting in the sun after days of rain.  We're both 80 now, since her birthday was in March.  As Clawdia sat in the lush grass looking around, I decided the pollen count seems to be down.  The mowers and trimmers were working here on this sunny Sunday, even though they usually come here on Mondays.  Maybe they've gotten their days as mixed up as the rest of us during this lockdown, or maybe they're worried about "rainy days and Mondays."

That's not all, yet.  Later in the day I got a couple of other singing electronic cards, both from Sharon.  One was these goats yodeling, and the other was William Shatner singing to me and putting my name in lights as I posted at the top of the page.  Okay, Sharon, how'd you do that, getting both of them to sing my name?  Thanks for the shout out!

And at the end of the day, more birthday wishes on Facebook from Gina, Toni (who included another birthday cat for today's collection), Annette, Judith, Charlotte, Bonnie M, Jimmy, and Terri.  Thanks to all.

Update 4/27/2020:  Birthday wishes keep pouring in, like floodgates have opened.  Facebook friends continue to send belated good wishes ~ Nancy, Jess, Alyssa, Cindy M, Jean L, Dora, Sharon L, Sylvia, Diana, Laurie, Mary Virginia, Cindy Z, Carol H, Ginger, Rosemary, Vickie, my brother Jim, Pamela, Ginny D, Candy, Sheryn (who added a dog to celebrate with us), and Rosie (who added a cat flying around in a small bi-plane to my cat collection).  And I forgot to include the twenty-plus who have clicked "Like" or "Love."  Feeling very blessed by all of you.

LOCKDOWN ~ humor

For more fun during our lockdown, here's a short video from a music teacher, who has composed a sweet little song.  In her viral video, Liz explains:

"As some of you guys might know, I'm a music teacher, and I've found that one of the best ways that I can process the whole transition to online learning and teaching is to write a song.  So, I wrote a song, and I'd like to share that with you guys now.  Here we go."

 What follows quite succinctly sums up the collective feelings of many, many teachers, parents, and students around the country.  And I'd say, it applies to the rest of us, too.  Shall we sing it with her?