Friday, Feb. 15

Good grief! How did the scientists miss the fact that a meteorite was catapulting toward earth? Hundreds of unsuspecting Russians were injured when the heavenly body smashed into a city there yesterday. Scientists explain that the meteorite was too small to be detected by current methods.

We were up at 6:30 this morning to get ready for water aerobics. Chilly day, but the water in the pool was great. There weren't as many lap swimmers today, and they left around 8:30, which made more room for those of us who swim in the deep end before the session.

Around a dozen of us showed up. Our regular leader still didn't come. Besides her, there are a few others unable to attend...two are recuperating from shoulder surgery, and one, a diabetic, is experiencing blisters on her feet, and a black toe (not good news).

On the light side, during the water noodle exercises, one lady was having trouble with her noodle, which was bent in the middle. "My noodle is limp," she commented, as she flopped one end of it up and down. Naturally, we all immediately got the same mental image, which caused us to burst into laughter. I don't know what the young man exercising at the edge of the pool must have thought. His back was turned to us, so maybe he didn't catch the joke. Or maybe he just politely ignored it.

Back home, I warmed up with a couple of cups of coffee, and checked my social network page on my tablet, where I learned that another member of my high school class has died. There were only twenty-five in our class, and she is the seventh one to pass away. She was not only a classmate, but she was also related to my children on their father's side.

Sometimes, notices of deaths of folks we knew seem to come in bunches...yesterday's newspaper contained an obituary announcing the death of one of my former college professors. He was in his 80s. He taught Western Civilization...not my favorite subject...and his classes were always tough. I took two semesters under him.

By the time I was ready for the day, it was lunchtime. I fixed Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and Hubbie and I had leftovers.

Mother returned to her puzzle afterward, while Hubbie and I went to the college where I swim to see a "Small Works on Paper" art exhibit. This is a traveling exhibit from the Capital City museum. One of our local artists is featured. Hers is a pencil drawing of a boy Aztec dancer. Charming.

Other works include a black and white photo of the midsection of a woman, with her jeans unzipped, to display a large, vertical scar. The photo also displays a portion of her pubic hair. Another photo is of a fawn lying dead in tall grass, having been shot in the side. And another photo shows an infant suckling at its mother's breast.

In drawings, a graphite and ink work shows a child of about seven years old, holding a hunting dog pup under one arm, and a rifle under the other. Another digital photo shows a woman in a straw hat looking over the distance of a field toward a large tree. This one reminded me of a famous Andrew Wyeth painting.

Funny: at the college, before we went into the art gallery, we noticed a couple of young women in thigh-high skirts. We noticed them because it was a quite chilly day...too cold for bare legs. One young lady wore a flimsy skirt that blew up in the back as she was walking up a flight of stairs, revealing her thong-panty behind. Hubbie and I had to laugh at that.

Back home, we relaxed until time to prepare supper. I played on my laptop and read tonight's local newspaper, the front page of which featured a story about a former water aerobics member. "A few weeks ago, (name) laid down her choir book for the last time," the story began.

"Oh, no!" I exclaimed to Hubbie. "(Name) has died. I hate to see that!"

"I saw her name," Hubbie said, "and I thought I recognized it."

"She was 92...." I said, trailing off. "No, wait," I added, as I read the article further, "she didn't die. She just retired from the choir because of her failing eyesight!"

I had misinterpreted "laying down her choir book for the last time" as a nice way of saying she'd passed on!

Later, I made a breakfast casserole from biscuits, which I'd crumbed in the blender, to which I added egg substitute and sauteed green onions and bell peppers, plus spices. I poured the mixture over leftover fried potatoes, and topped the dish with Monterey Jack cheese. Served slices of French bread with it. Strange meal, but Mother and Hubbie commented on how good it was.

Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and around 7 p.m., we went to the college where we'd toured the art exhibit to attend a chamber music concert. But wouldn't you know it, two of the world's biggest people plunked themselves down directly in front of us! This man and woman must weigh 350 pounds each. We had to try to peer around them to see the performers.

We always enjoy visiting folks at these events, and tonight, we talked with the wife of the former president of the college. She was wearing a sheer white blouse with unusual ruffled three-quarter-length sleeves. These were not small ruffles, but large, black trimmed ones. She said that her husband asked her what in the world possessed her to buy it. It certainly got a lot of attention, and I had to admire her for having the courage to wear it.

We also visited with a lady who told us that the former professor who recently died had suffered several setbacks before he died. He'd lost a great deal of weight, and was prone to falling. He also had alzheimer's disease. What a pity that a man as brilliant as he was had to lose his faculties. What a cruel disease.

Tonight's concert was performed by a string quartet from the Capital City. The program featured works by Franz Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Beethoven piece was written by him toward the end of his life, when he was completely deaf. The finale was a cocophony of unpleasant sounds (we were warned that this would be the case) called Grosse Fuge, Op. 133. We were told that most 19th century critics dismissed this work, calling it "repellent", "incomprehensible, like Chinese" and "a confusion of Babel."

The quartet ended around 9:15 p.m., and we were home by 9:30. There were refreshments at the event, and we brought home a few cookies, but I preferred to snack on a hunk of dark chocolate cake, with a cup of coffee, to warm up, because the temp is dropping drastically tonight.

Watched a little TV, and then headed to bed.