10/28/2012

WEEKLY UPDATE 10/28/2012

On Monday, I had signed up for a lecture on disastrous hurricanes on the southern coast throughout history Very timely, since we expected Hurricane Sandy to arrive in the coming week. Some of the historic hurricanes - Hazel, Hugo, Floyd - which have caused much damage in the past, were discussed and photos were shown. Georgia, it seems, has been spared much of the destruction that other parts of the country have suffered, mostly Florida. And Sandy proved no different. We had some wind on Friday & Saturday, but it was more a refreshing breeze than a terrifying wind. We didn't get one drop of rain. I think Rochester is going to be more affected by the storm than we were. So, my candles, flashlights, and bottled water are safe in the closet to wait for another day.

Wednesday, I was invited to Donna's for lobster soup (she's from Maine) with Susan & Helen. The meal was wonderful, and the company was grand, as well. Donna can also make a fine pumpkin pie martini. ohhh...

Thursday, following my MOW deliveries, I drove out by the Mall to go to the Social Security office. I need much more information on Medicare than I already have, because I’m going to be forced to enroll next year. It's all so confusing - what plan, what cost, what's available - and I looked through some of the literature, but put it away for another time. Besides, might the election change things for me and thousands of other seniors? Who knows?

It's been two weeks since I’ve had to lead a tour at DH, so I was a little rusty. I told my first group that Isaiah Davenport came to Savannah from New England in 1809, which is an outright lie - he came in 1807. Do you think any of those tourists will report me to the Visitor Bureau as leading them astray? For the most part, however, it’s just like riding a bike; you don't forget.

Again this week-end is my turn to open and close the cemetery visitor center. It seems that I’m doing this more week-ends than I’m not doing it. As soon as I opened, and left the desk in the capable hands of another Historical Society volunteer, I went back tot he condo to pick up Donna. We drove out to an exclusive neighborhood on Skidaway Island because Suzy was participating in an art show there. Donna & I had gone last year, too, and we remember a wonderful wine tasting at the Village Grocery Store (eat your heart out Wegmans; Weggies could learn something from this place!). There was also a car show with mostly 'vettes (a 1956 model showed the original sticker price - less than $5,000 - and the “extras” - a 3-speed manual transmission and an AM radio), a library used book sale (in spite of repeating my mantra “no more books” I couldn’t resist and I bought 3 new books there), and the art show. The wine tasting was wonderful. I bought 2 bottles; Donna bought a case. But also included were tastings at the deli, and I don't mean little scraps of sliced turkey or american cheese. They offered chicken waldorf salad, fresh tomato sandwiches, chocolate bread pudding, asian noodles, crab dip, salmon spread, chili, wraps, and other wonderful treats. The samples were tiny, but there were so many of them, you could eat lunch there!

I had to get Donna back to her condo in the early afternoon, because I had a tour to give at Bonaventure. This was a group who had scheduled a special tour, and there were 4 “characters” in the cemetery who told the stories. I was involved as a guide who would fill in with other information as we walked between the performances. The tour was to take 2 hours, and I was really surprised that the rain held off until after we finished. It was probably because of my actions that the skies didn't open - I dragged my raincoat every step of the way, and it was a nuisance. But just like remembering to carry your phone with you, and that insures that you no one will call you, the raincoat & umbrella held the wet weather at bay. I like these tours, but am a little disappointed that they haven’t asked me to be at Little Gracie's tomb.

Sunday, after I closed the cemetery and was relaxing with the Gieants game, Donna stopped over. We watched the DVD's I'd borrowed from the library - the TV series Fury, the Story of a Horse & the Boy Who Loved Him. Oh, man, was that ever a long time ago!

I must be a southern girl now - I watched a college football game on Saturday. Georgia played Florida. That's a HUGE rivalry here, and I'd heard about The Game all week. I got back to the condo from Bonaventure just at the start of the second quarter. It was a sloppy sloppy game: 9 turnovers, 24 penalties for more than 200 yards. I'm gonna stick to watching the NFL, where the playing is professional.

And, another difference between Rochester & Savannah - I think I'm one of maybe 4 politically liberal people in this area (and one of those is “friend” on fb. Although we think the same, I'm really tired of the propoganda she posts there constantly). Coming from Cuomo country, this is totally different. The worst thing they can throw at a candiate for congress is to say he backs Obama's programs. Nothing else is relavent. Apparently that's enough for voters to turn him out on the streets. Only a little more than a week to go. I've DVR'd all my programs just so i can fast forward through the political ads.

No Buffalo Bills game this week. At least I can't complain about a loss. Ever wonder what I'll have to write at the end of the season?

WEEKLY UPDATE 10/21/2012

WEEKLY UPDATE 10/21/2012

This was a week of cult-cha for me. I feel I can drink tea with my pinky raised at any time, and I will fit right in.

On Friday night, I went to a Philharmonic Concert. It was Wonderful! The theme was American music, and they started with the Star Spangled Banner. It went on with An American in Paris, medleys from West Side Story & Porgy and Bess, and ended with an encore of Theme from the Magnificent Seven (better know as the Marlboro Man song). There was more, but those were the best ones.

Saturday night, I went to the ballet. It was Dracula the Ballet. Nothing says Halloween better than a nice ballet performance. Since pretty much my only experience with ballet involves sugar plum fairies and mouse king fantasies, this was a little strange for me.

Illustration 1: a really bad pix - taken from the cheap seats, way up high, on my ipod

The artwork that Hannah made for me was finally finished at the frame shop. I hung it next to the other original artwork (an oil painting of Durand Park in showing the wonderful fall colors by C Andrew Lloyd) I have in the condo. So now, I can feel as if I'm living in a gallery, to add to my high class posing.

Illustration 2: my personal art gallery

No Frankenweenie this week, just high brow.

I did finish making curtains for the beach room. I like that room because it has two windows, and most rooms in the condo only have one (although they are big windows). I had hoped that I might get a cross breeze in there when it's cool enough to have the windows open. But, what was happening was that the afternoon sunshine coming on both the south and west sides of the condo was making it quite warm in there. I found a bolt of the same blue fabric that I had used for the bed coverings when I was making those, and there was barely enough for tab curtains. So, I had that as a project. When I finished those, and the sundresses, I could put all the sewing stuff back in boxes in the closet, so order is restored, everything I back where it belongs, and I can have my familiar surroundings again. I've tried to add a photo of the sundresses. They look better on the hangers than they do on me, really.

Thursday evening was the annual meeting / dinner for the Bonaventure Historical Society. the speaker was excellent; he talked about The Book. Many of the names were changed to protect the innocent in the book, and the speaker had a slide show of who actually was who. No one I recognized as running my circle of friends, but it was interesting.

Illustration 3: at the dinner - does this photo make me look as if i've got a halo?

On Saturday, the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, a marine science research institute near Savannah, had an open house. They have a small (believe me, if you've visited the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, this is NOTHING) that's open to the public, but the center I generally used by UGA for research. They had an open house, with some of the labs open (most interesting was the boat that they take out along the Atlantic Coast for 10 - 28 days at a time to check things like plant & fish life, water temperatures, changing depths, etc), and a wonderful lecture & tour of the history of the institute. The original plantation has been in existence since the 1700's when they tried to grow mulberry trees for a silk business, but that didn't work. It was most recently owned by the Roebling family, who earned their wealth in the mid 1800's when the patriarch was the engineer who invented the steel cables that made it possible to build suspension bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge. We were able to go inside their family home, which is now used for research, and see some of the things that were here when this was a working black Angus cattle ranch. Very interesting. There was also a lecture on sea turtles, and you know that I have a special place in my heart for the loggerheads. So I enjoyed that very much.

Illustration 4: the new loggerhead

5. Illustration: the floating scientific laboratory

On the plus side - I didn't go to Coach's and therefore saved myself $20 in beer and wings. On the other hand - ONE POINT!!!! There weren't many games that I liked the final score on this week.

Massie school tours, MOW, lectures at the senior center - all the same old same old. I didn't have to go to DH this week, and it was really strange. all day long on Friday I kept thinking it was Saturday. Next week i'll be back on schedule.

WEEKLY UPDATE 10/14/2012

October 9 is a big day in Savannah history - the anniversary of the Siege of Savannah during the Revolutionary War. The British held the city for most of the war, and on October 9, 1779, the American patriot soldiers stormed the city to try to take it. They failed in the bloodiest hour of battle in the entire war, when over 1,000 were killed or wounded on both sides. And the British remained in control of the city. I've dragged myself out of bed for the past couple of years to join other history buffs at 7 am at the battle site for services and re-enactments. But, not this year. I probably would have, but my neighbor had asked that I give him a ride to the airport at 8:30, so I did that instead.

I went to the Green-Meldrim House Museum on Tuesday before my assignment at Massie School began. This was the finest house in the city at the time of the Civil War, and Mr. Green offered it to General Sherman as his union troops were on their march to the sea, hoping that if he liked Savannah enough, he wouldn't burn it like he had Atlanta. I've wanted to visit here many times, but it's always been closed when I went. This time was no exception, and there were workman doing some renovations around the entrance, and they told me the museum was closed. Well, maybe another day. But since I was downtown early for my volunteer assignment, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Clary's - another place I’ve always wanted to try but just haven't been done yet. Clary's is a sandwich shop that is mentioned frequently in the Book Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil. So, I had a nice club sandwich there before I bored tourists with my droning on and on about the history of Savannah at Massie school.

I don't know why I do this, but on Wednesday I went to see Frankenweenie. I think Tim Burton is scary, the things he comes up with, but I love his movies. It's a little embarrassing, however, to be an old woman going to these kiddie flicks. The movie wasn't the best I'd seen, but there were some really funny things that would have gone right over kids heads. Like, Good-Bye Kitty and the graphic of the hello kitty mechandise, but with crosses on the eyes on a headstone in the pet cemetery. I thought that was funny.

I had bought some fabric a week ago to make a couple of sundresses for myself. They would be more like bath robes than dresses - the days when I don't go out or have anything to do, I often just sit around until late afternoon when I take my shower and get cleaned up. Then I want to have something easy and comfy to slip into, so a cotton shift would work well. Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough material for one of the dresses, so went back this week after MOW to get another half yard. I sewed the dresses, but I'm not really pleased with how they turned out. Whatever. I will only be wearing them in the summer when I don't have to go out. I thought there was a concert at the Telfair on Thursday evening, but when I tried to find the particulars online, I didn't see the event. That worked out really well for Lisa & Dave, because theat meant I was able to meet them at the Rail for a pint - this is getting to be a habit - instead. A philharmonic concert or a bunch of inebriated college students singing Bye Bye Miss American Pie at the top of their lungs - good choices, Wilma.

I didn't have to give tours at DH this week, and I'm off next week, too. I'm afraid that once I find out how nice it is not to have to go, I may just tell them I'm done, but I'll have to see how I feel in two more weeks. So, Friday I spent running errands and sewing.

Donna arrived back in Savannah late Friday night, so we met for lunch on Saturday. It's so good to have her back here. We went downtown for a lunch - a burger for her, shrimp & grits for me - and then walked around on River Street for a while, just talking and getting caught up.

Sunday, I remembered that I was to give a tour at Bonaventure at 9 am, although I’d forgotten to write it on my calendar. It's getting so that if I don't write things down, they are lost to me forever. But I led a very interested and inquisitive group on a 2-hour walk through the cemetery. They had a lot of good questions, and many that I didn't know the answers to, but this is how I learn - finding answers. I went back to the condo to read the Sunday newspaper, and then had to return for a normal second-Sunday tour. This was interesting, too, and I got a lot of tips following the tour. I usually do not accept gratuities, but these tourists insisted, so I dropped all their money in the donation box at the visitor center to support the Bonaventure Historical Society. Since Coach's Corner is only a short distance away from the cemetery, and it was already 4 pm by the time I finished there, I decided to go watch the late games. The Bills were playing Arizona, and I didn't think there would be any hope. Surprise! an overtime win for them on the road! how cool is that? Sadly, I'd left the bar at halftime, so I didn't witness the win. I did see the Lions come from behind, and the Ravens beat the 'Boys (yes!!!) and the Browns get their first win of the season.

No photos this week. Maybe if I do something interesting next week, and if I remember to take my camera with me, I'll have something. Maybe if Jupiter aligns with Mars, that is.

WEEKLY UPDATE 10/7/2012

I tried to help at DH on Monday morning to do gift shop inventory. I don't think I was very helpful. I could hardly get back up after getting down on the floor to count small boxes on the bottom shelf in the storeroom, the print on the tally sheets was so small, I had trouble reading what it was I was looking for, and I continually lost count on some of the smaller items - pencils, patches, magnets. I think next time they ask for volunteers, I’ll suggest that older docents be exempt.

Also, on Monday was book club. The meeting began with Elizabeth, our librarian / leader, giving a report on her recent adventure in travels - Turkey. Just listening to her talk about some of the things she'd seen - the carpet showrooms, the mosques, Ephesus, the spice markets - brought so many memories back to me of my visit to Istanbul so many years ago. As far as the book reports went, I was certainly prepared, as I'd read 5 books that will have authors attending the Savannah Book Fest next February. Many of the books that others in the club had read sounded very interesting, and I want to read those, too.

I forgot that I am on the schedule for Massie school tours on Tuesdays now. It isn't a part of my routine like MOW or DH, yet, so I had planned to do nothing on Tuesday until I looked at my calendar and saw that I was to report at 1 pm. There were 2 tours on this afternoon - one was a couple visiting Savannah from Vancouver, BC, and the other was a class of 6 graduate students in historic preservation from SCAD. I'm sure they all knew more about some of the exhibits that we offer than I do, but I did the best I could. I've attached a photo of the students in in the city plan exhibit.

On Tuesday evening, there was another lecture about the War of 1812 athe the Visitor Center. I enjoy those lectures, but they're pretty boring if you're not really interested in history. This week it was about naval battles during the war, and the mechanics of sea warfare. yeah yeah yeah. But I did enjoy the history lesson.

Wednesday, following my late afternoon lectures in the series about Reconstruction in Savannah following the Civil War (which it doesn't seem to me to be much about that - it's about the war itself, and no mention of Savannah so far), I stopped at Charlie Teeple's shrimp shack for a low country boil to go. They have the biggest German Shepard dog I’ve ever seen on the porch there, and I don't know how I didn't see it until I was right there with it. I'm not really fond of dogs anyway, and this one was bigger than Mr Ed. He didn't bother me, and I got my shrimp dinner and left without being someone else's dinner.

As I was getting ready to go to MOW on Thursday, I thought about wearing my Buffalo Bills t-shirt. And then I thought, no, I'll wear it if the Bills go to the Super Bowl. Then I thought, no, if the Bills go to the Super Bowl, I'll EAT that shirt. There was a gallery opening, and I went to a lecture at the Telfair in the early evening. The paintings are all watercolors done by an artist who is trying to show workers who are toiling in jobs that will soon be gone - shrimping, newspaper deliverer, cotton mill workers - throughout the South. It was interesting to learn how she came on this project, and how she picked which faces to capture. Because of this lecture, however, I again had to miss meeting Dave & Lisa at the Rail Pub. As I was driving out of the city again, I decided to drive past the pub to see if they were sitting in the window, where they usually do. Sure enough, and Dave saw me and waved. So, I parked and went back to enjoy a pint with them. I commented that it's a good thing that I own a red Beetle, not a silver Toyota, because it makes me stand out a little on a crowded street.

The Friday tours at DH were pleasantly filled - not too big, but big enough so that I didn't feel that was wasting my time. (oh, com'on Wilma, you're retired! what is a waste of time any more???) I also attended the performance of A Deadly Pestilence, the yellow fever play, that talented people from the DH staff perform every October. Since I’d never seen it before, I thought it might be a good time to find out what it was all about.

Saturday was my turn to open and close up Bonaventure. I'm pulling double duty now, and doing this every other week-end it seems. My good friend (dare I call her a mentor?) has asked to be removed from the list because of her husband's failing health, so I’m picking up some slack. Of course, it only takes a few minutes, but it makes for 4 times every week-end that I have someplace to be at a certain time, and that's confining. Saturday, the first shift didn't show up, so I was there, at the desk, doing my best, in the clothes that I just threw on that had been on the floor all night, and I hadn't brushed my hair or showered, until a replacement came at 1 pm. Lovely - what a fine ambassador I am!

but, wait! It only got better. I went back Sunday morning to open everything up, and the volunteer was right on time at 10. So, after I got everything opened and set up, I left. But, I got a call about 1:30 that HIS replacement hadn't showed up, and he couldn't just leave, so could I come back to lock up? Well, I guess it didn't matter if I locked up at 2 o'clock or 4 o'clock, so I stayed again to sit at the desk. This is getting old really fast! I don't mind helping out, but I don't want this to be a full time job.

I did get my Halloween decor out of the box in the closet this week. So, now I’m not the only witch on display in my condo.

Did everyone watch the presidential debates? Did anyone learn anything? let me state my position: it doesn't matter which of them wins, because nothing will change for me at all. So, I just don't care.

I'm writing this before the Bills game is even over. But, it's over. Crap. Another week that I didn’t go to Coach's because I was embarrassed by my team. I also didn't get to Pirate Fest on Saturdday because I was too lazy, and I didn’t get to the Picnic in the Park on Sunday because I was tired of sitting at the Bonaventure visitor center all week-end, and just wanted to sit in my condo for a while. I have always liked the parade on Tybee for the annual Pirate Fest, and I've enjoyed the Picnic in the Park in the past, too. Maybe I’m becoming too much of a “local” now to want to go out and experience these annual events. or maybe I’m just too old and lazy.