Two Noras: January 11, 1914 and January 11, 2021

Nora Bauer: Sunday, January 11, 1914

Was real cold today. Did some more typing for sister today. We all went down to Uncle John's tonight and played "Around the World." 

Nora Spitznogle: Monday, January 11, 2021

Lousy night's sleep. Work today was consumed with pandemic planning and timelines. Home after work for a shower, jogging in place, television, and popcorn. 

I'm intrigued by what Grandma Nora considered "real cold." I checked the Logansport Pharos-Reporter for the day. The only weather blurb said, "cloudy and colder tonight." Colder than what? I assume that Grandma Nora meant sister with a capital S. You may remember that she was doing some typing for Sister Augustine last week. 

Uncle John was most likely her paternal uncle, John Jacob Bauer. Uncle John was four years older than her father, Felix (who's father was also named Felix). I couldn't find a game called "Around the World" from that era, although it could have been as simple as starting with A and going around the room naming countries in alphabetical order....A is for Argentina, B is for Brazil, etc. 

I'll have to ask my Dad, John Vincent, who he was named after. John Jacob Bauer lived to be 80 years-old. He died two years after Dad was born. John Jacob's wife Anna died in 1910 - their two sons (Leo and John) would have been young adults in 1914. 

I'd say Indianapolis was cold today - in the 20s, not that I was outside much. I left for work at 6:00 A.M. and left a little before 5:00 P.M. Today was mentally taxing - the pandemic brings it's own challenges. 

I took a nice shower, and jogged in place watching Jeopardy - the first I've seen without Alex Trebek. I switched to PBS for Antiques Roadshow and a profile of a war time code breaker, Elizabeth Smith Friedman. Elizabeth was only a year older than Grandma Nora and grew up just 60 miles apart in Indiana towns. Transcribing Grandma Nora's journal has certainly tuned me in to the era.