Today is the home opener for that Nationals and we have tickets. The problems are (1) while this morning’s rain will probably stop by game time, the temperature is not to rise above about 55 degrees, (2) I woke up yesterday feeling like I was coming down with something and still today I am not 100% cured, and (3) we are scheduled to leave town Wednesday morning on a road trip, and I want to be fully recovered by then. Plus, yesterday the Nationals blew a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 9th with two outs, and their closer allowed a double and two home runs to lose to the Reds 6-5. As a loyal fair weather friend, that takes away some of my enthusiasm. So……what should we do?

As to April Fools (and I have no idea who invented that day), my mind always goes back to that April 1 long ago, when I was taking a business trip. Why and where I don’t remember. But I do remember it was Southwest Airlines, from BWI. There was a typical boarding line, and as we got on the plane, we slowly moved towards the back. A man two or three people in front of me stopped to open a top rack and stow his carry-on. He opened the rack door, and there was a Southwest stewardess hiding in the luggage rack who put on a big smile and yelled “April Fools!!”. (Yes, she was very short, and very animated) The problem was that the poor man looked like he was having a heart attack, and the stewardess knew she had made one big mistake. I wonder if, every April 1, she thinks about this, too. She is probably now about 60. When she thinks about it still, I bet she is both embarrassed and in disbelief. Do you think she ever told her kids?

I started this day pretty early, because I wanted to get to Warby Parker (that’s an eyeglass store) when it opened at 10, because I had read that they were giving away glasses for the upcoming solar eclipse, which we plan on attending in southern Illinois. I went to their Union Market store, entered at 10:06 and seemed to be their fourth customer. One other was looking for eclipse glasses. They seemed to have about 100 pairs.

So, I think I should give Warby Parker a shout out. I don’t do that often enough, but I really should have a shout out list. Let me add, as number 2, Mamman Cafe, up the street from the Warby Parker store, which is a very comfortable coffee shop/lunch place and has first class coffee and good pastries. It was carry out this morning – an almond croissant and a “small” coffee (their “small” is 12 ounces; they also have an 8 ounce size, which they call “kids” – go figure).

Shout out #3: Echo Falls smoked salmon. I don’t usually pay any attention to what brand of lox I buy at a supermarket. But yesterday, I had lox, cream cheese and a bagel which I thought was much better than usual. The brand was Echo Falls, so I will give them a shout out. I looked them up on line to see what others thought. The first URL that came up showed Echo Falls with a 5.0 rating. Can’t beat that, I thought. I wonder how many people had sent in reviews. The answer? One. I’d make it two.

Other shout outs? Everyday Sundae on Kennedy Street. Fresh Baguette on Wisconsin Avenue. Izumi Japanese Restaurant on Columbia Road. Cafe of India on Wisconsin Ave. I’m Eddie Cano on Connecticut Ave. Gourmet Asian Bistro on Muncaster Mill Road. Those are my March shout outs.