The Pool

Betty got here about 11:00 and we had a nice chat before we picked up Aline.  All agreed on Dynasty Diner for lunch, where I enjoyed my ideal summer meal: a rare hamburger and a cold Bud.  (By the by, I was annoyed to be charged forty cents extra because I asked that the onions be fried.  What's next, a buck fifty to cover the plate and napkin?)
Had a leisurely meal and good talk, as ever, then went back to my house and Betty and I changed into our bathing suits.  Aline never, ever immerses herself in water (as I do, she even takes showers, not baths), but she came with us.  Betty and I cavorted in the wonderfully refreshing, sparkling pool while Aline read her book on a lounge under the shade awning. 
When we got there, before 2:00, there were exactly four others in the pool enclosure and two were guests.  I guess that was because it was somewhat overcast, but still very hot, and many of my neighbors won't venture out of the house (makes no sense to me, as it isn't as if they're expected to hike in the heat or something).  However, later, about a dozen others came in and we chatted with them.  Susan had been in the clubhouse and came to the pool to say hello, having seen my car outside.
We stayed about two hours, then went out.  Betty changed and left for home--she had to see a patient on the way, so that worked out for her--and I asked if Aline would mind waiting while I showered and dressed.  She happily assented and continued reading her book until I was finished.
We then sat and talked for a good hour and a half, ranging over topics such as her brother, who's a leading light in the Objectivist Society, and various and sundry members of my huge extended family.  I showed her a few of the many photos I have of my antecedents, including my German great-grandfather in his Civil War picture and my Irish great-grandmother in her 1887 studio portrait in Dublin.
We looked on my computer to see if we could catch her brother's live-stream lecture at the Objectivist Society Summer Conference in North Carolina.  We were too late for that, but caught him in an earlier appearance on YouTube.   
We didn't part until almost 7:00, when I took her home after a good, satisfying day.  This morning, I'm going to tour The Terraces, an assisted living facility nearby, then pick A. up for breakfast at Dockside. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PRECIOUS VIOLET, A BIG FIVE-YEAR-OLD TODAY!