Dave made it into town on Saturday morning. Anne and I picked him up. So, for a brief period of time the family is all together. Dan and Dave make a nice pair of bookends, sitting on the couch, heads buried into their dueling laptops. It is good to have them both home again, even for just a little while.

After I mowed the lawn, Anne and I rode in the Park. Having a mower that is capable of cutting even the tall grass has engendered a sense of procrastination that was not possible with the old push mower. Before we rode, I fixed the flat on Big Red, again. The rear tube had two small holes in it, snakebite, pinch flat. Big Red is Anne’s old hybrid bicycle. It weighs a ton and because the left shifter is broken, its 21 speeds are effectively reduced to just one. Anne rode it for a month this winter, while her good bike was in the shop. Later, Bob rode it once and had a blowout, the old tires had rotted. I put new tires on it, but more care was needed then taken, hence the pinch flat. For our ride, I decided to take Big Red out, for a test ride. I found it to be a great equalizer between Anne and I. It was hard keeping up with her. It will make a great training aid. We got 15 miles.

On our ride, we stopped at the African Arts Festival. It is regularly held every Memorial Day weekend, at the World’s Fair Pavilion. We watched a couple of dancing acts, including the hootchy-kootchy girls, pictured below. We also shared a chicken shish-kabob and large lemonade. Considering that it was only 69 °F, when we left the house, it felt a lot warmer, after climbing Government Hill, so that lemonade really hit the spot. The costume on the girl second from the left offers an excellent idea of what to do with broken strands of Mardi Gras beads. Gary and Linda, this is a shout out to you two revelers.

Friday night, Anne went to the Maplewood-Richmond Heights graduation ceremony. There were 86 graduates this year. Two students tied for salutatorian, they both spoke at the commencement, along with the valedictorian. All three of these graduates were women. Girls go to college to gain more knowledge. Boys go to Jupiter to get even stupider. – From the Birch Pt. Beach Blonde Bombers

Dinner tonight is Imo’s pizza, at Dave’s request. Imo’s serves Saint Louis style pizza, Provel cheese instead of mozzarella, on a thin crust, with ingredients piled edge-to-edge and cut into square slices. The Provel gives the pizza a sweet taste.