Sometimes on an overcast winter's day, I need to remind myself of how warm it was in Rome. This picture on the spanish steps is available only because Bruce had the strength to walk up and take it. I, wilting violet that I am, stayed in the shade. And this is in May - before the horde of tourists in the summer months!
A 55-year prize gap
In Grade 6 or 7, I won a prize “for the most improved” in math. The announcement at our June closing was a double shock because a math prize was never before associated with my name and, of all things, came as “Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Haunted House.” What a treasure! A new book! I read it over and over in the years to come as I loved reading more than anything and math was something to be endured.
Strangely enough, I liked learning math concepts. The illusion of a light bulb going off in one’s head when the last block fell into place was not far off what it felt like. The moany/groany part was the practice that followed after learning the concept which was designed to keep it in memory. I hated doing the practice so much that I think that alone was why I couldn’t wait to get out of school after graduation. (But how was I to know then, that this would be the worst decision of my life?)
So there I was, 55 years later, on a snowy night in December 2007. Were the wheels already in motion for me to win my second prize in math? I decided not to shop that night as I waited for my husband to do his weekly run around
It was just before Christmas, and there was practically no one in the shop except the owners, an artist selling her dyed yarns, and me knitting silently, a la Madame Dufarge, at one end of the table.
A problem arose in the discussion between the owners and the artist, over how to calculate the percentage the artist said she needed to cover her costs. I could see how difficult it was because all 3 of them were such lovely people, the kind who are more interested in texture and colour than numbers. All of a sudden, something percolated from the depth of my brain and I found myself saying, in a voice that came from somewhere outside of me, “Well, if you know what 60% is, you can divide by 60 to determine what 1% is. Then if you have 1%, you can multiply by any number you want to find that percentage.” There was a milli-second of silence before the fingers flew over the calculator. “It works!” A glow of surprise settled in and the business was concluding when one of the owners jumped to her feet and said “I’m giving you a prize because that is the best thing I’ve learned and I’ll always use that formula.” She gave me a baubled stitch marker of their design. It is a beauty in its own right but especially so because I always used the cheap white plastic rings. I left that shop when it came time to rejoin the running crowd, high as a kite. A prize in math! Who knew there was still room for ‘most improved’ if even in a crowd of 4 knitters?
