Life in Ludlow: It was a Pi Kind of Day

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Last week was Pi Day, March 14. When you represent it as the month, (3), and the day, (14), it is 3.14.

Pi is the symbol in the Greek alphabet used by mathematicians to represent the ratio of a circle’s circumference to it diameter, 3.14, plus an unknown number of digits reaching into infinity since there is no known end of the calculation at this time.

Our daughter Megan encouraged us to start celebrating Pi Day twenty years ago as she is a math teacher and was/is always looking for ways to unhinge the aura of “nerdiness” from the study of mathematics. She may not have totally succeeded but there has certainly been progress.

I was at a breakfast meeting with three other folks last Thursday, Pi Day. They had already assured me they knew the importance of the day and the reveille associated with it. Sure enough, the phone rang and I was reminded of two things.

First of all, turn the darn phone off when meeting with others. Secondly, our daughter called me to remind me again of the day’s importance. I put the call on speaker and assured her the others at the table knew of the day’s notoriety. She responded with “excellent!” It is so nice when your children think you are doing good in the world.

Then at Rotary lunch President Caleb Summerfelt welcomed all to Pi Day. In order to celebrate the day and curry favor with my friends playing poker that evening I picked up a $20 Toll House Pie at the Chimacum Café for our enjoyment before the game. One of them commented that the $20 pie had about $17 worth of sugar in it.

Thank goodness Ramsey Smith brought ice cream we could use to temper the chocolate goodness of the pie. We did not try to calculate Pi because we forgot the tape to measure the circumference and/or the diameter. In addition, I had money to lose, again.

BJ went to the annual business meeting of the Port Ludlow Yacht Club at the Beach Club. The meeting was followed by the officers’ open house and dinner at the Wreck Room. Dinner was free to all Yacht Club members so there was a big crowd. In fact, those who attended the business meeting also got a ticket for a free drink in addition to dinner. Even though I stayed home to watch some basketball on TV, I still qualified for dinner so I joined BJ after the game. Yes, it is time for “March Madness” in college basketball. 

The weather is better, my sciatica seems to be subsiding, the cars need washing, the birds are having a feast on my new grass seed, and the walkers are out in droves in Port Ludlow.

At this writing there is still some snow in the ditch on the west end of Swansonville Road, but that is it for the somewhat more annoying winter of 2018-2019. Enjoy.

Time to groan. Who is the roundest knight at King Richard’s Knights of the Round Table? Yep, it is Sir Cumference. You knew it was coming.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!