Happy Leap Day

Tomorrow is February 29, a day that comes around only every four years. I say, this is a special day, right? That should be reason to celebrate.

My friends Rhonda and Gary were married on February 29. I can’t remember if this is their 8th or 9th celebration. They say they chose Leap Day because it would be an easy date for Gary to remember. However, I’m thinking, since at one time there was a tradition that it was permissible during Leap Year for the woman to propose . . . maybe . . . no . . . a woman asking a guy to marry her is pretty much permissible at any time now, so never mind. In Greece it’s considered unlucky to marry on Leap Day. But it seems to be working out well for Gary and Rhonda.

I don’t know anyone who was born on February 29, but it happens. In fiction, Gilbert and Sullivan, in their comic opera Pirates of Penzance, used the novelty of a leapling (Leap Year baby) as a plot twist. Frederic, our hero, was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. However, since he was born on February 29 that date wouldn’t arrive until he was 84 years old.

(BTW, there is a delightful movie of Pirates, made in 1983 with Angela Lansbury, Linda Ronstadt [who knew she could sing opera?], and a very young Kevin Kline.)

A memorable Leap Year occurrence: On February 29, 1940, Hattie McDaniel was the first African American actor to win an Academy Award (Oscar) for her role in Gone With The Wind.

But back to celebrations. Perhaps I should throw a party. Serve food I can bear to eat only once every four years (if that often). Sushi, eel, anchovies, escargot, turnip greens, oysters, kale.  Some of that stuff I have never eaten. Can you guess the rest of the story?

In Anthony, Texas, population 5,000, there is a quadrennial birthday party for Leap Year Babies. It began in 1988, rather a whim of a council woman who felt the need to have her birth date recognized when it came around. The idea grew and grew and now there are 300 members of the Anthony Birthday Club of Leaplings, some living as far away as Europe. As many as can come every four years to celebrate with a town parade and festival.

So there’s our celebration! Of course, Anthony, is 950 miles from Arkansas. It sits in the shadow of El Paso, at the tip of Texas that juts out into New Mexico. Maybe not this year, but think about 2020. Who here doesn’t love a parade and town festival?

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Never Leave Home Without One

Have  you missed me being here the last couple of weeks? (Please say yes.) Truth is, I have been reading! One of my New Year’s goals is to make a big dent in the stack of books I want to read. What that really means for me is: turn off some mindless television program and stimulate my brain.

I made great strides in January, reading four books. Two of them were pretty short, but still. Then I decided I should read The Goldfinch, which my younger son, Phillip, gave me for Christmas. This best-selling novel is over 700 pages long, not an easy read, and I am not a fast reader. It’s been rather like slogging through ankle-deep sand and, just before I give up, finding a small oasis of interesting plot to encourage me onward.

I stopped midway through The Goldfinch to read the Beebe/Goff Library Book Club choice for February, Finding Jake, by Bryan Reardon. This turned out to be a worthwhile decision. I became quickly engrossed in the gripping plot and the character development. Which brings me to the point of saying how much I enjoy the Book Club experience. It’s great fun to discuss with others a book you have all read.

In fact, after potty training, reading is the best thing I ever learned. Mastering the ability to translate print into words opened countless doors. From that point on, boredom was unknown. Sunday afternoons flew by, spent in the Alps with Heidi or solving a mystery with Nancy Drew.

Reaching the third or fourth grade level made me eligible for a special treat. I could read to my grandfather. Papa lost his eyesight at the age of 65. He liked to keep abreast of the local news and enjoyed The Reader’s Digest for its variety of stories from around the world. So, every evening, a different family member volunteered to bring the written word to him. At last my turn had come.

I sat on the footstool in front of his chair, the daily newspaper in hand. I read a headline to him and he determined if he wanted to hear the article. If it was a go, I dipped into the story with gusto. When I came across a word I didn’t know, I spelled it out. He told me how to pronounce the word and the story continued. Papa was a good sport about it, but I wonder now how he got any sense of what I read. This regular practice served several purposes. It improved my reading-aloud skills and gave me one-on-one time with my grandparent, doing a good deed while I learned about current events.

Good literature from Alcott to Yerby filled my high school years. As a young housewife, books became my reward. Clean the living room and peruse one chapter. Finish the ironing and take a break for fifteen minutes. Harper Lee, Norah Lofts, Grace Metalious, and Mignon Eberhart made my world richer and wider.

Waiting rooms provide an appropriate place and the coveted time to skim the latest book in my queue. What? My car is ready so soon? The doctor will see me now? My motto is: A book — never leave home without one.

I lose myself and I find myself between the pages of a good book.

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Playing Gotcha

Small disclaimer: if you are under a certain age there may be some terms in this post you won’t understand. i.e. the title, VCR, repair of electronic appliances (rather than throwing them away), little plastic soldiers (see above).

Back in the dim past of the 1980s, not everyone owned a Video Cassette Recorder/ player. They were expensive. However, the stores that rented movies, also rented the devices to play them.

Go to the video store, choose a tape you would like to watch and for another $5.00 rent a player. Take it all home, hook it up and enjoy. Return within 24 hours.

In 1989, for our 10th anniversary, my husband and I spent probably close to a month’s salary to buy a beautiful cabinet model television set and a VCR. I’ll mention here that the TV inside that lovely piece of furniture was still working when it went to the city’s recycling Dumpster 20 years later.

The VCR lasted several  years also, although it had to be repaired a couple of times.

1989 also heralded the birth of our grandson, Phillip, who subsequently came to live with us full time. When he was 4 or 5 years old, he loved to visit Everything’s $1.00 and buy a toy. A favorite was a plastic bag full of tiny olive drab soldiers in various battle poses.

This could be another item you are unfamiliar with. I’m not sure it’s P.C. to sell battlefield implements and soldiers any more. My local $1 store offers “Zombies Vs. Cavemen.”

But I digress.

One day I attempted to insert a movie in the VCR and was greeted with a horrible grinding noise.  It wouldn’t work. We took the machine to the TV/ VCR repair shop.

When we brought the VCR home, I sat Phillip down for a conversation.

“We’re getting the VCR back today. Do you know what happened to break it?”

“No”

“Something was inside it. Do you know anything about that?”

“No.”

“Well, the man was able to fix it.”

“So can I have my army mans back?”

GOTCHA!

That’s how the game is played. The purpose is to catch someone lying or at least avoiding the truth.  Parents play that game a lot — as do many people with authority to ask questions that must be answered.

Is it a nice game?

I guess that depends on your perspective.

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. . . a dangerous thing

The saying, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” is credited to Alexander Pope, but it is actually a misquote. What he said in An Essay on Criticism, is “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”

So this is interesting. Alexander Pope was the first to say it, but that’s not what he said.  Then who . . .? What . . .?

Oh well, I digress. Because regardless  of who said it, it is true. Just watch American’s Funniest Videos. With just a little learning, certain behavior might seem like a good idea, but you might want to think it through a little more thoroughly. The tipsy wedding guest has seen Fred Astaire dance on tables. It can be done. The knowledge he’s missing is that tables in movie studios are heavy duty and bolted to the floor!

This week I saw a link: You’re Loading Your Dishwasher Wrong. The promise was a lot of money saved if you learned to do it right. I didn’t click. No point. Because since the dishwasher was invented in 1920 no two people have agreed on how to load it.

Of course the electronic age offers a wealth of opportunities to err in the use of devices and apps using the small amount of learning we have. Emailing a private message to a large listserve; venting on Facebook thinking only your friends can see.

Several years ago when texting was introduced, I had an acquaintance so entranced with it she declared: “I love this! From now on this is my means of communication. No more email. I won’t answer the phone. Just text.”

What she had missed was the part about the other party being able to receive. I missed her message when she texted my land line.

Now we have hoverboards. A whole new way to demonstrate that one knows a little bit about a few things . . . just enough to make him dangerous.

Thanks to hoverboards, America’s Funniest Videos will never lack material.

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A Bit About Staying Fit

When I think about it, I’m a bit concerned that I don’t get enough exercise. I sit at my job several hours a day, if I don’t remind myself to walk the hall from time to time.

Then, after work, I often find myself sitting … while reading, writing, watching TV and/or knitting. I have no regular exercise routine other than vacuuming occasionally and getting dressed every morning.

What I’m noticing is that just as I reach this age when I need to keep moving, more and more things are becoming automatic.

Even a shopping trip provides very little exertion. I seldom have to push open a door. If I choose to, I can ride around in a motorized shopping cart. It’s no longer necessary for me to walk through the parking lot looking for my car. All I have to do is push the panic button on my key ring.

By the way, I will never have to stop driving, now that there is a car that can make good decisions for me while I’m thinking about whether I should turn or stop.  Now that’s a good thing.

If guilt had cardio-vascular benefits I would buy one of those wrist thingies to remind me that I have been completely motionless for the past hour.

Possibly one of the strangest “we’ll do it for you” items on the market today is a brand of antiperspirant that activates only when you activate. It lies dormant until you begin to move and then adjusts to how strenuous your activity is. (I’m not making this up.)

Actually, this is great. I might try this. No need to waste deodorant while I’m just sitting there. I can just sit there and stink.

But I have security in knowing that if I do decide to move around, my new roll-on has my back — and arm pits.

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