3/8/2015

Weekly Update 3/8/2015

Book Club was Monday - and this month we read I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban. It was an interesting narrative, but having just seen Selma the day before, I am hesitant to point my finger at another country or culture or judge them.

There were a couple of lectures this week. On Tuesday, I attended a unveiling of a new app, Metabook, and the speaker was John Berendt. The first book to issued by the app is Midnight in the Garden in Good and Evil. Since this book has had a huge influence in Savannah, many people came out to listen to Mr. Berendt speak. On Wednesday, the Victorian society had a meeting and our leader, Ron Melander, gave an interesting talk about plants and gardens in Savannah. I wished Audrey could have attended, as she would have enjoyed it. 

Author John Berendt speaking from the stairs inside the Jepson Center

 

Also on Wednesday, I went to H & R Block to have my taxes done. I have anger issues (about almost everything - currently the focus is on the airline industry, but there are others - but tax time brings out more) because I can't believe that I need to pay another party to figure my taxes. I have little income, I don't itemize, how can this be difficult? Why do I have to pay almost $200 to have someone figure what I owe. I do not complain about paying or what I owe, because it's my duty as a citizen to support the government, and taxes are actually a very easy way to give that support, and I pay more for cable tv each year than I do in income taxes. It's just the hassle of something that really should not be this difficult for the average citizen that irritates me so much.

This Friday, after DH tours, I was back at 17 Hundred 90. It's been since before I went to Rochester that I was last there, so it's been a while. Just as I was leaving, a tourist started to talk to us. She was from Canandaguia! Small world. So I chatted with her for a while. It was her first visit to Savannah and she loves it. We also had shared stories of places she'd been in Savannah, and memories of the Finger Lakes. It's amazing how I can always find someone interesting there!

Saturday, I had been talked into volunteering at the Historic Savannah Foundation's fund raising event, the oyster roast. I was stationed on the front porch of a wonderful historic home on the Isle of Hope. I was to greet the patrons as they got off the bus and offer them a bloody mary before they entered the house. They needed to be bused in on Old Town Trolleys because the street is very narrow. Isle of Hope is a neighborhood of large, older homes along the Wilmington River where many OSMs live. I fit right in! The house was built in the 1868, but there have been many renovations through the years (the current owner installed a sauna!). The weather was perfect - not particularly warm, but very sunny. I am always surprised at how many faces I recognize from the organizations I belong to, or events I've attended. 

 

I had the top down on the car twice this week, so Spring seems to be coming. Plus the spring ahead clock settings reinforced that.

Sunday I gave a tour at BC. The azaleas are just starting, and by the Second Sunday in April, the next time I give a tour, they will be magnificent. It was really a lovely day, and there were large crowds for all the tours.

As soon as I was done there, I went to Lisa and Dave's house for an evening of eating and games. it was just the three of us, but it was wonderful. They know how to entertain! They both had made many delicious appetizers to enjoy instead of a large meal. That suited me just fine as I sat next to all the plates of great food while we played some games, believing that they wouldn't notice how many of the goodies I was slipping into my mouth as we played. It was so nice.