I have a confession. I did something that I’m not all that proud of. It wasn’t anything spectacularly dumb or bad, but it was a reminder that all my synapses don’t all fire at the same time sometimes.

I made my usual Wednesday afternoon trek over to the North Wind Manor to hang out with the other Rabbit Room enthusiasts. And for the uninformed, it’s a place where you can go to drink coffee, eat snacks, read books, have conversations, or just sit and think. It’s just like Elrond’s last homely house in Rivendell. Except I’m pretty sure napping is frowned upon.

So I got there and realized that I was the only one in the parking lot. I thought that was a bit odd, but still nothing too out of the ordinary or unusual. So I waited a bit.

Then I noticed that it seemed a bit dark inside the Manor, so I went and peeked through the window. No one inside, no lights on.

Then I remembered. Oh yeah, it’s Juneteenth. They’re closed.

Thankfully, my brain lapse only cost me 20 minutes of driving time and maybe 30 minutes of my day. Plus, I got a primo parking spot for the 5 minutes I was there.

So you see, kids, getting older and less mentally acute is what you get to look forward to when you’re my age. I think at this point, the transition to senility is going to be a fairly smooth one for me. Not a lot of adjustments, plus I already have practice at being feeble-minded.

But at least I’m still alive.