Monday, Oct. 8

Happy Columbus Day! Even though, according to MSN, Columbus didn't discover America (millions of humans already lived here, having arrived a millenia before). He himself thought he'd discovered a new route to Asia, though he'd actually landed in the archipelago of the Bahamas...Haiti and the Dominican Republic. And in his later wanderings, he sailed not to what is now the United States, but to South America. Seems the guy was lost.

Columbus didn't prove the world to be round, either, since Ancient Greeks discovered that millenia before.

So who discovered America, besides the natives? Seems it was John (Giovanni) Cabot in 1497, in England's name. But since early Americans were warring with England, and not with Spain, they decided to award the title to Christopher Columbus.

We started the day by hanging the flag, in honor of...well, whoever landed here.

We were up at 6:30, so I could get ready for water aerobics. Br-r-r, another really chilly morning. I even threw a coat on over my fleece wear and hoodie. Wore gloves, too, because I knew the steering wheel in the van would be cold.

The pool was chillier this morning, too. Nearly 30 of us endured it, anyway, though. Today, our leader called one of the ladies down for chatting when she should have been paying attention. This didn't set too well with the chastised lady.

There was a physical therapist in the pool, guiding an elderly lady through exercises. Our fearless leader either wanted to impress upon the therapist how much control she has over us, or she wanted to make it more comfortable for the therapist. Since the boom box was playing loudly, and our leader herself was none too quiet, I think it was the former.

Before aerobics began, one member commented that thieves had tried to steal things around their house a few nights ago, but were frightened off by her husband, who went outdoors to confront them. When they ran away, he mounted his four-wheeler and chased them. He didn't catch them, but he did scare them enough that maybe they won't return.

She said there have been lots of robberies in the area, and asked if we'd had any problems. We haven't, and I hope we don't.

Back home, once I'd thawed out with a couple of cups of coffee, and then got ready for the day, it was close to lunchtime. Hubbie had accompanied Mother to our house while I was upstairs, and we all had a soup or sandwich lunch.

Mother headed to the couch afterward, Hubbie went outdoors to work, and I did this and that around the house, and then reviewed today's lesson for my ESL student.

The first thing the student remarked upon was her thorough disappointment in the news that Hugo Chavez was re-elected to another six years in Venezuela. And he has vowed, she said, to remain in office until 2023.

The economy is dreadful in Venezuela, she said. Except for very cheap gasoline, prices for goods and food in that country are exorbitant. And there is no such thing as a sale. Prices are fixed. The student loves our free market economy that allows her to take advantage of low-price off-season clothing, for instance.

She also likes being able to return goods to a store for either an exchange or a refund. In Venezuela, buyers had better be pretty sure that they want what they buy, because there will be no refund. The best they can do is hope to exchange purchases for something of exactly the same description in, say, another color or size.

The other thing she mentioned was that all three televisions in her home were fried during last Friday's thunderstorms. I asked if they were on surge protectors, and she said no. She's not sure if they have insurance on them.

Our lesson today included irregular verbs...swear, swore, sworn, for example. Once she understood these verbs, she commented that when she came to America, she was required to visit an embassy and swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S.

The lesson also dealt with department stores and clothing, and department store directories. The student is quite familiar with shopping, so this was a re-hash for her.

Vocabulary also included expressions of location: "The bookstore is on the corner of York Street and Main Street." And, "in order," and "out of order." "Steve fixed the TV. It's in order." "The radio is broken. It's out of order."

We ended with superlatives of adjectives: "He looked at three shirts. He wanted the cheapest one." "The yellow shirt was the best shirt."

At home, Hubbie had heated leftovers from yesterday. As soon as supper was over, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, because we were due to attend a Friends of the Library meeting at my alma mater college.

Once the short business meeting ended, we were entertained by a visiting professor, who has written a history of the college. This professor is a graduate of the college, too, and we always enjoy his humorous talks.

Tonight's talk was a "Did you know?" presentation, in which he cited various events of the college, which were probably not funny at the time, but are hilarious today, thanks to this professor's spin on them.

After the talk, we enjoyed refreshments and a tour of a gallery of photos. The photos were a real walk through time, depicting clothing styles, and events of the college, including the football team, known as, of all things, the Lambs. Hubbie spotted one featuring several guys, entitled "The Snuff Brigade." I saw one of girls in the late 1800s in a May Day Dance, wrapping ribbons around a pole. This was a popular event even when I was in grade school. I don't know when it fell out of favor.

We were back home around 8 p.m., and I took a sample of a delicious lemon/cream cheese bar to Mother. She had just gotten a cup of coffee and was wondering what snack to have with it, so she was pleased when I solved her problem. The bars were homemade by the wife of one of the retired professors. She said they are simple to make, and she'll e-mail the recipe to me.

We spent the rest of the evening watching TV, including an episode of "Upstairs, Downstairs," from the PBS channel. This drama, which began in Edwardian time, has moved forward this season to the 1930s. War is in the offing.