New Books, New Friends, New Adventures

You won't see pictures of me on the beach this summer, or going on cruises, but I want to tell you about my adventurous day today. It may not seem like much to you but I have only a couple of weeks of summer break left and I want to enjoy every minute. I needed a couple of things from the grocery store and I wanted to take six books to God's Storehouse to donate, so I headed out with books in an old blue and white plastic Barnes & Noble bag. You see, Saturday I bought seven books, so I was trying to get rid of seven books, even though I only managed six. You may have heard that some people believe, for example, that if you buy three new items of clothing at the thrift store, you should immediately give away three items. I tried to apply this principle to books, but six was all I could manage at once. So, I first went to God's Storehouse to deliver the books, then I went inside and, long story short,I found three books. One of them is in Spanish, one of them is about Whirlaway, the racehorse, and one is a Hallmark gift book about "how to pamper yourself." After buying the books at God's Storehouse, I went to the store because I needed a couple of things, but I also was hungry, so I decided to check out the Fairlawn Dillon's food court, which reminded me of the airport, complete with the floral shop and the Starbucks, surrounded by the huge produce department and deli section and... the salad bar! You see, I hadn't visited that salad bar since before Covid. So that was perfect, I sat down to eat it, looked at yesterday's USA Today and everything, just like you would at the airport. That way I got to pretend I was going somewhere. After eating the salad, I went looking for my three items I needed, cracked black pepper deli turkey, gouda cheese and a beefsteak tomato, but, before I could go to check out and pay for these items, I met a most delightful young woman from Mexico and her mother. They were trying to select some avocados, so we proceeded to have an interesting conversation about avocados, which I never buy because I don't know how to get a perfect one, and if I buy them before they're ripe, they're always black before I get to them. We had gone our separate ways in the store when the voice in my head kept saying, "Go tell her you need to practice your Spanish." So that's what I did. I will not give you a complete rundown of all of that other than to say what a delightful occasion it was. So, now, I have met a new friend--a fellow educator--I have gone on a pretend trip somewhere, and have three new books to enjoy. The other thing about all this is all the memories it evokes to go to God's Storehouse and find a book about Whirlaway and a book in Spanish, published in Mexico. I am not sure why the book about Whirlaway was in the section with all the travel books, but there it was, and I could not resist it. I am not sure what it is about Whirlaway aka Mr. Longtail. You should look him up and watch his tail in a race. He was the fifth horse to win the Triple Crown, in 1941. That is, he won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. He was also the only horse to ever win both the Triple Crown and the Travers Stakes. I'm looking forward to reading about Whirlaway. I was not born yet in 1941, but I remember a racing game we used to play, and Whirlaway was one of the horses in that game. I am not sure, but I am guessing perhaps Citation was in that game, maybe Needles and maybe Nashua and Swaps. All I know is those are the racehorse names that have always interested me. Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948, and Needles won two of the Triple Crown races in 1956, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont. Fabius won the Preakness that year. I had quite an interest in racehorses in the ‘50s, and my favorite jockey was Eddie Arcaro. Eddie Arcaro wass horseracing to me in the 1950s. Arcaro rode Nashua in the 1955 Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Another time I'll tell you all about the 1955 Triple Crown Season of horseracing. There was no Triple Crown winner in 1955, but it was an exciting season. About that book in Spanish, it reminded me of when I went to Mexico the first time. I'll maybe tell you about that someday too.