What I learned in May

Emily P. Freeman's monthly feature!


1.  Pro baseball has base coaches.

I thought base coaches were a concession for kids who aren't experienced enough to make judgement calls about when, or which direction, to run--like using a tee for kids who can't hit a pitch.


I was so amazed when I was told that base coaches exist in the big leagues that I looked it up to confirm.  


I suppose even grownups get clockwise and counterclockwise mixed up sometimes.


2.  Board members of our homeschool support group don't pay membership dues.

Score--we just saved $30!  Though the rest of the board assures me, "Oh, you'll pay."


3.  Some movie theaters have out-of-this-world comfy seats.

As in, the picture above doesn't even do justice to the recliners we had in the city for The Jungle Book.  Full recline, cupholders, and a swing-out snack tray made us realize what bumpkins we are to sit upright in folding seats at our local theater.  I had no idea this was a thing.


4.  The Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial is across the tidal basin from the Jefferson.

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."  

5.  A good bike lets you go up even steep hills without getting off to push.

As implied above, Jason and I had a long weekend together in D.C. a few weeks ago, and I bought myself a new bike for the occasion.  I didn't have a bike at all.  I'm pretty sure the last new bike I got had sparkly streamers on the handlebars (which were so cool).  At some point, probably when my brother left home, I inherited his old bike from Wal-Mart or some such, which had some miles on it already then and never really fit me right, although I took it to college and used it for years after.


That was in the 1990s.


That bike was one of many items that didn't make the move.


After agonizing deliberation I put my cheapskate tendencies aside and invested in a nice bike from a real bike store, and--wow!  I've never had so many gears before, as the old one was a ten-speed with two or three that actually worked.  I barely ever had to get off and push.  I felt like Lance Armstrong, doping aside.


I love my new bike.


What did you learn in May?