1/27/2014

weekly update 1/2/2014

Verizon was true to it's word, and I received a memory card in the mail this week. I'll just have to figure out how to use it. I have learned how to put it in the phone, and how to remove it again, but I still have to find out how to transfer data to it. Always something to struggle with and learn.

There was an interesting lecture at the Massie School on Wednesday. I'm a member there, and this was the annual meeting and the time for renewing memberships. Dr. (PhD) Stan Deaton was the speaker. He is the Senior Historian of the Georgia Historical Society. He spoke on how history and other humanities continue to stay relevant in the world focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It was very interesting, and was a good reinforcement of how important I believe history (and literature, art and music) to be. I have enjoyed Dr Deaton's short programs on PBS, Today In Georgia History. Each evening all last year, there was a minute that he spoke about some event, or someone's birthday, or something that happened that affected Georgians on this day in the past. That was interesting, and I enjoyed hearing it. It was a nice treat for me to hear him speak in person.

Thursday, when I woke up, I received an email from my friend Anne Nedd, who lives in the same condo complex that I do. She and her husband were entertaining out of town guests, and they wondered if on very short notice I would be able to take them all on a tour at Bonaventure. Of course! I wasn't doing anything, so I met them there. A group of ladies from California (Andrew is originally from there) were visiting Savannah for a conference, and Anne & Andrew graciously agreed to show them some of the great things about this city. It was a cool day, so walking around the cemetery was not as pleasant as it can be, but I gave my tour and we were there for a little over an hour. It's what I enjoy doing, and it was an unexpected and fun way to spend some time that day.

It was back to Davenport House after a week's postponement when the museum was closed. I didn't forget everything I'd learned in that time, and I did four tours. What was a little different, however, is that they are doing an archeological dig in the back yard at DH. The diggers are trying to find where outbuildings may have originally been located, and are also looking for artifacts that may give more insight into the life of the 19th century. They have found a brick wall, and some interesting lost objects (a bone domino) and it was exciting to talk to them. 

 

I haven't seen my friend Beth in quite a while. The holidays were busy for her, and then she was sick and it lasted for weeks (the unusual cold weather doesn't help). But we were finally able to meet on Saturday. It's restaurant week in Savannah, so we had an early lunch at Vic's and then went to a matinee of Frozen. The lunch was excellent, but the movie was not as good as I had hoped it would be. A nice story, a happy ending, a good lesson, but kinda bland. I guess cartoon figures singing their cares away doesn’t mean that much to me any more - it reminded me very much of the Barbie videos Emily and I used to watch. I was glad to catch up with Beth, and it was wonderful to see her.

Lisa & Dave had invited Donna & me (and Kay and Jeff) to their wonderful historic home in downtown Savannah for a gourmet meal on Saturday night. Dinner parties for me are pretty much a thing of the past. I don't entertain (I don't have dishes, or pots and pans, so there's little I would be able to do even if I wanted to) and if I meet with friends for a meal, as often as not, it's at a restaurant - there are so many good ones in Savannah. It was so nice to sit and enjoy a wonderful meal with good friends. The company was grand, the food was outstanding. There wasn’t time for a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit; maybe when they come over to my condo and we all sit on the floor and eat delivery pizza.

I watched some tennis this week, but since it was the final week of the tournament, there were not as many matches played. And they were in Australia which meant the live broadcasts were in the middle of the night. I did watch a bit of the Women's Final early Saturday morning, and I got up at 6 am on Sunday because the Men's Final was in the 4th set. I thought it would go to 5 sets, so I got up, made my coffee and settled in my chair to watch the last exciting set to see who the champion would be. It didn't work out that way, as Warwinka won 2 games to finish off Nadal, and it was over in five minutes. I went back to bed.

I did Bonaventure desk duty in the afternoon on Sunday, and then drove my neighbor to the airport. He'll be going to Massachusetts for a week to visit his daughter. I wanted to watch the Pro Bowl, but who cares? I didn't even know who to cheer for, since it seems to be a different set up now. It used to be that the AFC would play the NFC, and of course, that meant I’d want to conference that the Bills played in to be victorious. But who really cares if Deion Sanders' or Jerry Rice's team win? Besides, I had to switch channels to watch Downton Abbey and Sherlock.