Wrapping Up February

Hello, Friends.

Do you miss spring and summer activities? Spring is on its way, but meanwhile, enjoy some indoor markets:

• Carmel Winter Farmer's Market
• Westfield Winter Farmer's Market
• Indianapolis City Market
• Indy Winter Farmers Market
• Muncie Minnetrista Market
• Greenwood Farmers Market
• Broad Ripple Farmers Market

Favorite you pick farms that continue to have a storefront throughout the winter months:

• Tuttle Orchards
• Stuckey Farm
• Spencer Farm

Friend Media Recommendations

The Moth Podcast: the art and craft of storytelling

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: a story about apartheid in South Africa. Read the book. A You Tube summary

Heros and Gratitude

This article in Positive Psychology talks about the importance of gratitude and our wellbeing. Expressing gratitude can be done in many ways...Fair warning: I feel a song coming on!

Famous Hoosier Word Hunt

Find Hoosiers to admire or emulate in this word hunt. 

Why word hunts? They help us to recognize letter combinations typical in a language. This particular one indicates historical naming conventions of our Hoosier community. Any of these people is worth the time to read a Wikipedia article (or dive deeper) to learn more about the people that are important in shaping American culture.

Tweaking English

Compound words are interesting. Apart, the words mean one thing, but when combined the take on different meaning. 

Webster describes three types of compound words:

• Solid: firefighter, sometimes, babysit, bedroom, airport
• Hyphenated: up-to-date, double-check, cost-effective
• Open: health care, ice cream, jack in a box

More fun facts:

• Not all compound words are listed in dictionaries and style (or the way these words are written and used) are up to the writer-editor and can vary.
• Compound words can be any part of speech: noun, verb, adjectives. 
• When compound words are verbs they are often called phrasal verbs.
• Compound Words: Open, Closed or Hyphenated offers more information about these words (that may be phrases)
• Cut to the chase with this list of 1000 Compound Words (have some fun and search a few of them; you will discover that they may or may not be written as "closed" words across the internet-which is not a compound word).

How many compound words are in this Update? The winner gets a prize!

Meetings and Classes

American Sign Language: Tuesday, 5:00-6:00 PM EST (UTC -5), Zoom

Talked about Abraham Lincoln. One fun and funny "mispronunciation" is that if you miss sign Lincoln (for the president) the common slang sign loser (slang for someone who doesn't fit in).

February 27: Sign about your heroes. Tell about Leap Day.

International Bible Study: Tuesday, 8:45-9:45 PM EST (UTC-5), Zoom

The first portion of our meeting was spent on logistics. We are moving this Zoom meeting to Monday, 8:00 PM Eastern Time, beginning March 4.

We read and talked about Revelation 13. This chapter may be difficult to imagine and to understand. Many people have equated the stories to specific times in history or try to equate what is being described to current events. Verse 7 gave us pause. The people of the earth worship the beast, but not the people of God. God reminds his people to endure and be patient. We discussed that this is not a horrible or impossible task because we have the community of believers to support us. We have God controlling the situation. Verse 15 highlights severe intimidation and global deception by the beast to control the people. Verse 18 offers the clue: "Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man." 

February 27: Join us as we begin with Revelation 14.

American English and Culture: Thursday, 9:00-11:00 AM EST (UTC-5), Zoom

Thursday's meeting included telling about our heros. We talked about people who are close to us and our lives as well as people who had a great impact on the world. Presenting and/talking to a larger group can be intimidating, but everyone presented a confidently. We learned more about each other. We learned more about ourselves.

We recapped honorific titles and talked about when and where we use them. Words include:

• Mr.
• Mrs.
• Miss
• Ms

Professional titles:

• Dr. or doctor
• Pastor
• Father
• Professor
• Military ranks
• President
• Senator
• Justice (judge)

There are opposing perspectives on the terms sir and ma'am. This CNN article talks about how some women feel old as opposed to being respected when called ma'am. Alternately, this Q&A explains how it is rude or disrespectful for people living in the Southern states. This Stack Exchange provides specific direction.

February 29: Happy Leap Day! 

Kick off the morning talking about compound words and their uses. Writing prompt for the week is to write a short piece using 20 or more compound words.

Civil discourse (an open compound word) is an important part of living in a community and in American culture. The arena of politics is given a bad rap when it comes to discussing diverging points of view. Lee Hamilton and Dick Luger of Indiana are heroes of political discourse. Watch this PBS special to spark our conversation. What are phrases and strategies to keep discussions from becoming arguments or confrontations?

Kids' Conversation and More: Friday, 4:30-5:00 PM EST (UTC-5), Zoom

We chatted about George Washington. Our Friend reported on President Washington's historical significance. We filled in folklore: cherry tree, wooden teeth, "I cannot tell a lie."

March 1: What is Leap Day? Why do we add a day to the calendar? What are local traditions and lore about Leap Day?

Here are helpful articles: 

The Consequences of Eliminating Leap Years Explained by ScienceAlert (msn.com)

History, legends of Leap Day come every four years — almost (jsonline.com)

Words and Phrases

emulate: imitate

honorific: speaking to or about a social superior