I was at a crowded New Years Eve party and ran into an neighbor, Magical Michael. We both expressed surprise at seeing each other so far afield from the neighborhood. He told me he was on the hostess's pétanque team. And then he looked at me as though I understood. I tried to cover my confusion and smiled. I told him the hostess and I were on the same animal activitist group lobbying for No Kill.

I thought that maybe I should know the word "pétanque" and chemo had just erased it. This happens more than I would like to admit. Frequently the word definition or whatever will come to me later. this one never did. Fortunately there was an article in the local paper recently that cleared up the mystery

http://www.austin360.com/recreation/follow-the-bouncing-boules-408670.html

Pétanque is a popular French game similar to bocce ball that's finding a growing following in Austin. ...

The game originated in early 1900s in southern France and is now played by about 17 million people there — and at least 40 or 50 in Austin. It's intense. Players bend at the waist as they make their throws, concentrating intently and contorting as they unfold.
"We have one boule left. This is terrible," says Sasha Evans, 53, vice president of the club, when it's her team's turn.

Sasha was our hostess. Mystery solved.