6/24/2018

Weekly Update 6/24/2018

Not a busy week. I Got Some Things Done: I picked up new batteries for my hearing aids at the Beltone Center. I got more bagels for the first time in many months, I’ve been hungry for them. I had the tires rotated on the car. I met with the financial adviser I have here in Savannah - nothing major, just a few things have changed, and I wanted to inform him, and also, I want to keep a relationship with him. I try to stop in for a meeting every year or so. I went to Laurel Grove Cemetery, because it was on the news that the City has “hired” goats to keep the weeds manageable. I didn’t see them, but I think they are in the gully behind the cemetery, not near Juliet Gordon’s Low’s family plot.  I watched some World Cup.  I read.  I went to a lecture at the TLC. I tried to do a tour at BC, but it was a no show. I went to the pool a few times.  But overall, a boring week.  

One interesting thing I did, and I also read about this on the news app that I check daily, was to attend a Longest Day ceremony for Alzheimer's awareness. Purple balloons were released, and it was amazing to watch them float up to the beautiful clouds in the sky. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes, but many people were at Lake Mayer to remember loved ones.

6/17/2018

Weekly Update 6/17/2018

I started this week with a visit to Magnolia Plantation with Barbara. She had found a Groupon discount for us to get into the plantation, and walk the lovely flower gardens, and also the Audubon swamp garden. The Rev John Drayton was the owner of Magnolia Plantation before, during, and after the Civil War. He redesigned the famous garden, then America’s oldest formal garden, from its original French style to its present style of English informality. The flowers are colorful and lovely, and many old trees and green shrubs also contribute to the beauty of the gardens. The swamp area was interesting, and we did get to see an alligator, but not too close.

Jane and I are beginning to check some things off my Summer 2018 bucket list. We visited the Beach Institute, which is currently showing a display of only a few of the thousands of portrait photographs collected by W W Law. City Hall Archives owns the huge collection (as well as Mr Law’s vast music collection) and created an exhibit of just a few of the prints. The portraits span more than 50 years of Savannah history.

Thursday, I attended a lecture at TLC reviewing the Bill Bryson Book, At Home. He is a favorite author of mine, and, although I had finished reading only half of the book, I enjoyed the review. The author lived for a time in a Victorian parsonage built in 1851 in Norfolk, England. He takes the reader through the house, one room at a time, and writes about the evolution of that room (and anything else that comes to his mind while writing). He has a wonderful wit, and that added to the enjoyment of discovering such things as the difference between a kitchen, scullery and larder, and a history of rodents throughout European history. 

That same afternoon, the Savannah Victorian Society offered a tour of the recently renovated Kehoe Iron Works. I wanted to see how the converted foundry and machine shop had been re-designed to be an entertainment venue. The answer is – magnificently! The Kehoe family emigrated from Ireland, landing in Savannah in February 1852, and William Kehoe began working in the foundry of James Monahan. Several years later, he purchased the foundry. The Kehoe Iron Works provided materials for many southern railroads, steam ship lines as well as agricultural equipment across the lower US. It closed about 1920, and was taken over by Savannah Gas Company. It was designated a brownfield in the 1980s and sat vacant until Charles Morris purchased the old ironworks with plans to bringing it back to life.  

Saturday was another long day for me. I was wakened by my alarm at 7 am to be up and ready to meet Helen and Connie to take a boat ride around Wilmington Island. The day was just perfect – not too hot to be out on the water, a nice breeze, and sunny. The tour was sponsored by the Ships of the Sea Museum, and the purpose was to highlight the natural beauty of the area. We saw many marshes, beautiful (and expensive) homes with private docks, barrier islands, as well as dolphins, egrets, and even some shrimp, fish and a big horseshoe crab that were caught in a trap by our boat driver. I had to be at BC in the afternoon, but Connie, Helen and I met up again and drove nearly out to Tybee Island to have dinner together.  

Sunday, in addition to opening and closing BC, I went to birthday party! Sylvia had a party for her husband, Charles, and I was invited. The cake was wonderful! 

6/10/2018

Weekly Update 6/10/2018

Since I read a very good book, Hero of the Empire, about Winston Churchill's service in the Boer War (and I’d actually read it for TLC book club, and really enjoyed it), and since the topic at the library book club this month was a biography of the readers choice, I went. I haven’t been there in quite a long time. But, hey, I wasn’t doing anything else, and I hoped that I might get some ideas for good reads (I did). The group was so large, and the books so interesting, it ran over and we were there with our discussions for an additional half hour. Maybe I’ll go back to this one again, who knows.

Tuesday the Lunch Bunch met at Belford’s at City Market. A member who had moved away was back in town for a visit, and it was very good to see Susan again. The lunch was good too.

The Georgia Historical Society unveiled a new marker in Chatham Square Thursday. It honors Louis Toomer, who established a bank in 1927 which is now known as the Carver State Bank, and is the oldest bank headquartered in the Savannah area.

I also went to a Savannah Bananas game this week. Baseball is boring, but the French Open tennis has also been quite boring this year, so I hardly noticed the difference between a sport I like and one I don’t care about. There were some exciting moments, like when the Bananas came from behind to take the lead in the fifth inning, but I left shortly after that. Apparently, it went to extra innings and the home team won in the 10^th.

Saturday was Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US. The Jepson Center hosted an event which highlighted African American art, history and Gullah-Geechee culture through performances and family activities. Well, I don’t have family here, but Jane and I attended the performances. There was much history to learn, and most of it I was not taught a thousand years ago when I went to school, so it presented another wonderful opportunity for me to get more knowledge. Vaughnette Goode Walker and Jamal Toure, two of my favorite African American guides and story tellers in Savannah, were featured and told fascinating stories of the rejoicing and optimism that the enslaved populations in Savannah felt when emancipation was proclaimed in 1865. The Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters is a group of singers that sang songs that the slaves would have known, many with lyrics about freedom. I found it most interesting that one of the singers was introduced as being 92 years old, and blind, but she participated and enjoyed sharing the songs as much as the others. Amazing.

6/3/2018

Weekly Update 6/3/2018

This week started with Memorial Day. While my patriotism as at an all time low, I do feel it’s important to remember those who died for this country. And I’m constantly amazed at the people who do feel that America is Beautiful and God Blesses America, but don’t know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

So I began by going to a concert by an a cappella group at the Mighty 8^th Museum. It was raining and the ceremonies at the cemetery that I have gone to in past years were all moved, and I just didn’t feel like doing that anyway. So I went to hear a lovely group of mostly older women from Hilton Head sing songs. It was actually quite entertaining.

The Shore Notes

Since the Mighty 8^th is near to Pooler, I met Kay at the movie theater to see the movie Book Club. This will never win an Oscar, but I found myself laughing out loud in several places in the movie. I enjoyed it very much.

I’ve been watching the French Open on tv all week. And I also got to the pool several times. My tan is looking good.

Things at MP are not good, but they are getting better – a little. Landscaping has included planting shrubs and roses by the dumpster and the mail center, as well as a few little flowers in front of the entrances to the buildings. It makes it a little more attractive. But not as nice as the wonderful hydrangeas in Columbia Square by the DH. These are glorious!

a few flowers along with  my azalea

purple hydrangeas in Columbia Square

Friday, as is my usual routine, I went to The 90 after my tours at DH. Kay was there, as always, but she had Adam and Erin with her. I had not had a chance to meet Erin before, and she is delightful. I will see her again in less than a month when she and Adam

get married. I was happy to have a chance to meet her before that. 

the happy couple

Saturday, Connie and I had planned to go to the Seafood Fest on River Street in the late afternoon, but a storm rolled in, and we decided against that. Instead, we went to Betty Bombers at the American Legion on Bull Street for wonderful burgers. Then we joined a small rally for Wear Orange, a movement that supports gun control in an anti-violence campaign. Some of the families who have lost someone to gun violence (accidental shooting, suicide, murder) spoke. One mother, who lost her son just 16 months ago was amazing! She is passionate about securing guns, since her son was shot dead by a friend when a loaded gun they were handling went off accidentally. Another couple, who lost a daughter to suicide when she visited a friends house where guns were kept loaded and unlocked, were crying so hard they could hardly speak. It was very moving. I don’t know what the answer is, and I wish I did. But with people like this to tell the stories, perhaps something will be done.

everyone wearing orange, including Connie (far right)

a quilt, stitched by people who have been touched by gun violence

Sunday was the annual DH volunteer appreciation garden party. It was nice and there was a lot of really good things to eat. It is a yearly event to recognize and celebrate the volunteers who work at the museum. This year, they gave out certificates. I was awarded the Perfect Attendance Award. Isn’t that the one they give when they can’t think of anything else you would be worthy of an award for?