La Gruta in Teotihuacán, Mexico is literally in a cave.  Since 1906, visitors to the ancient city have cooled down and worked off their post-visit appetite in this little-known subterranean restaurant that’s 650 feet from the famous archaeological site.  The impressive space is decorated only by its own natural features.  Sun pours in through the upper reaches of the cave during daytime, while at night hundreds of candles cast a warm glow about the cool, echoey space.  The menu boasts an extensive selection of pre-Hispanic specialties such as tlacoyitos (corn cakes smothered in anise-flavored green sauce), the more adventurous escamoles al epazote (ant larvae with wormseed herb), and traditional pit barbecued meats ranging from rabbit to goat and lamb.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/la-gruta-teotihuacan-cave-restaurant 

wuther verb (intransitive, archaic, dialectal) To make a rushing sound; to whizz.  (intransitive, archaic, dialectal) To shake vigorously.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wuther 

Wuthering Heights was one of the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films of 1939 and it won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best picture.  Gregg Toland won an Academy Award for best black-and-white cinematography.  Wuthering Heights was nominated for seven more Oscars:  Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor for Olivier; Best Supporting Actress for Fitzgerald; Best Screenplay; Best Art Direction and Best Musical Score.  Wuthering Heights was filmed in Southern California's Conejo Valley, and Goldwyn went to great lengths to recreate the Yorkshire moors on the rolling hills and pastures where they made the movie.  Goldwyn sent a film crew to England to bring back 1,000 heather plants.  The crew then stripped 500 acres of vegetation and placed the real heather with 15,000 tumbleweeds that were spray painted purple.  http://www.oldhollywoodfilms.com/2015/04/the-essential-films-of-1939-wuthering.html 

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg  Homeric  (ho-MER-ik) adjective  1.  Relating to Homer, his works, or his time.  2.  Epic; large-scale; heroic.  After Homer (c. 750 BCE), who is presumed to have composed the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey.  Earliest documented use:  1594.  votive  (VOH-tiv) adjective Relating to a vow, wish, desire, etc.  From Latin votum (vow), from vovere (to vow), which also gave us vow, vote, and devote.  Earliest documented use:  1582.  The mightiest of kings may last only a few years, yet words are forever.  The same words that were used by Shakespeare, Homer, and Tagore are the ones we use today.  English mind, Greek mentor, and Sanskrit mantra, for example, are forms of the same root, Indo-European men- (to think).  We hope to continue bringing you thought-provoking words and word-provoking thoughts, but we need your help.  Autumn Contributing Membership Drive  If you enjoy A.Word.A.Day and other services from Wordsmith.org (all free), please make a contribution today.  Become a contributing member  We welcome your support in any amount.  As a token of our appreciation, those contributing $125 or more are invited to choose a signed copy of any of my books.  Thank you for your continued support!  Anu Garg  words@wordsmith.org  Words, when written, crystallize history; their very structure gives permanence to the unchangeable past. - Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) 

The 20-20-20 rule says that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.  Following the rule is a great way to remember to take frequent breaks.  This should reduce eye strain caused by looking at digital screens for too long.  The 20-20-20 rule was designed by Californian optometrist Jeffrey Anshel as an easy reminder to take breaks and prevent eye strain, according to the Optometry Times.  Look out a window during the 20-second breaks.  Judging a distance of 20 feet inside can be difficult, but focusing on a tree or lamppost across the street should work well.  Alternately, a person can benefit from closing their eyes for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.  Also, remembering to blink can prevent dry eye by encouraging tear production.  Anyone who spends the day sitting should periodically get up and walk around, to prevent back and neck pains.  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321536#symptoms  See also https://www.healthline.com/health/eye-health/20-20-20-rule#definition 

Rathskellers originated beneath German town halls.  These restaurants and beer halls let parties debate upstairs, then come downstairs for a few drinks and restoration of camaraderie.  German immigrants brought the tradition to the United States, including a striking example that lies hidden beneath the Minnesota State Capitol.  Architects and consultants have employed paint remnant analysis and two photographs to restore the 114-year-old beer hall.  After an art conservator removed 22 layers of old paint from the rathskeller walls using a scalpel and tweezers, designs emerged that had been hidden for 70 years.  This included 29 German mottoes, such as “Drink, but don’t indulge in drinking; speak, but don’t pick quarrels” and “Today for money, tomorrow for nothing.”  Architect Cass Gilbert designed the building in 1905 with Minnesota’s German immigrants—the state’s largest foreign-born population at the time—in mind.  He also added rathskellers to two of his other projects, including the Woolworth Building in New York City.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/minnesota-state-capitol-rathskeller-cafe 

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2020 is awarded to the American poet Louise Glück “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”.  Louise Glück made her debut in 1968 with Firstborn.  See all Nobel prizes for 2020 at https://www.nobelprize.org/ 

October 8, 2020  Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik takes play very seriously—and suggests we could all lighten up.  "Most people are taking most of the things too seriously," he says.  "They really can't enjoy life because of that."  If Rubik's name sounds familiar that's because he's the inventor of the Rubik's Cube—that fun (and frustrating) colorful cube puzzle.  "I learn most from my failures — that is the way to learn, that is the way to be successful."  And Rubik knows a thing or two about success.  He was obsessed with puzzles and solving problems as a kid.  He invented the cube in 1974, and when it was first sold in Hungarian toy shops in 1977 it flew off shelves.  His new book, Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All, tells the whole story.  Plenty of us have never solved a Rubik's Cube, but world competitions abound for speed cubers.  Real die-hard players can unscramble it in mere seconds!  And plenty of cubers get creative, adding additional layers of challenge.  Sankavi Rathan of Canada recently solved 30 Rubik's Cubes—one handed while also hula hooping.  Que Jianyu solved three Rubik's Cubes—while juggling them—in November 2018.  Cubers solve underwater, blindfolded, with their feet, on unicycles . . .  and of course robots have gotten pretty good at them, too.  David Greene  Link to videos at https://www.npr.org/2020/10/08/915866139/rubiks-cube-inventor-writes-a-new-book-it-s-full-of-twists-and-turns  See also https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/rubiks-cube-inventor-erno-rubik-on-his-new-book-cubed.html 

Grandson of President John Tyler, Who Left Office in 1845, Dies at Age 95 by Livia Gershon  Born 14 years after the nation’s founding, the tenth commander-in-chief still has one living grandson.  President John Tyler was born in 1790 and died in 1862.  In a reminder of just how young the United States is as a country, Mental Floss’ Michele Debczak reports that Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., grandson of tenth president John Tyler, died on September 26, 2020 at age 95.  Lyon’s brother Harrison Ruffin Tyler—born in 1928—is still living.  John Tyler was born in 1790, just 14 years after the nation’s founding.  He became president in 1841, after William Henry Harrison died in office, and served until 1845.  His son Lyon Gardiner Tyler was born in 1853 (a full 12 years before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery), when John was 63.  Lyon Gardiner Sr., in turn, was in his 70s when Lyon Gardiner Jr. and Harrison Ruffin were born.  John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency upon his predecessor’s death.  (Popular lore suggests Harrison caught a cold after delivering a lengthy inauguration speech while not wearing a hat and coat, writes Ronald G. Shafer for the Washington Post, but the ninth president only came down with pneumonia three weeks later, when he was caught in a sudden rainstorm.)  Contemporaries questioned whether John—derisively dubbed “His Accidency”—had the right to full presidential powers, and his tenure was ridden with conflict.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/grandson-10th-president-john-tyler-dies-180975992/  Thank you, Muse reader! 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2269  October 9, 2020