I just finished washing today's dishes with scalding hot water. My fingers feel like raisins, but they won't prevent me from documenting a few more adventures in Annapolis.
- Grandpa and I examined the lyrics to Holland's national anthem ("Het Wilhelmus"), which is apparently the oldest anthem in the world. And folks, it is l-o-n-g! Good gracious, I think you must have to eat extra cookies to keep singing for such a long time.
- Grandma goes to exercise class Monday-Thursday at the community lodge. She calls it her "stomping" class. The class is comprised of a sequence of movements well-suited for elderly people - lots of stretching, light cardio, and dance-oriented exercises. I think the best part of the class is the music: cute songs from the 1950's and 60's. "Fever" (Peggy Lee), "Norman" (Sue Thompson), "Young at Heart" (Frank Sinatra), "Make Love to Me" (Jo Stafford), etc. Grandma sings a long to most of them while hopping around the room. She says one time a lady "shhhh'd" her. In her opinion, this was the ultimate insult! haha.
- Most of the community exercise class participants are women, but the other day a man showed up. Grandma says he sings in the neighborhood chorale with her (Grandma knows pretty much everyone here). During one exercise, we were following the instructor's lead and doing a simple yoga move: the "cobra." I glanced over my shoulder to see the one man in the room (obviously bored) doing push-ups. I suppose even at 85, it's good to assert your masculinity. :)
- One of Grandma's neighbors survived a Holocaust concentration camp. She attends the exercise class and is a native of Poland. When the war ended and the camp was liberated by US forces, she met and fell in love with one of the American soldiers. The couple eventually married and moved to the States. I think Grandma sums it up pretty well: "Everyone's life story is a gem."
- To fix the suspicious gash on Grandma's car and replace a damaged bumper light, we took the car to Goodyear down the road. It turned out to be a comedic adventure. Anytime Grandma is in public, she makes a spectacle. After surrendering the car to a few mechanics, we checked out the waiting room. One other customer sat quietly reading a Home Living magazine. The first thing out of Grandma's mouth was: "This is borrrring. What is playing on the hekading? Can we put something more exciting on?" Hekading translates as a "thingamajig" in English. Grandma was referencing the tiny tv in the corner next to a questionable coffee pot. The screen showed a news program and weather forecast, but Grandma craved one of her usual gameshows. "Where is the thingy?" Grandma said, edging closer to the tv. Now she was looking for the remote. "Grandma, I don't know if we can change the channel..." I said. I handed her a magazine. Bad idea. I had absentmindedly given her a People magazine, chock full of scandalous photos and Hollywood gossip. The cover featured a buff and shirtless Zac Effron. "Good gracious, why doesn't he put a shirt on? He must think he's somethin' special, parading around like that..." Grandma exclaimed in her thick Dutch accent with rolled r's. I heard a soft snort from the woman waiting in the corner. After an hour or so, Grandma's car was like new and we sped home for coffee and a lunch of vegetable soup and cookies.
