9/30/2018

Weekly Update 9/30/2018

It was a week of interesting lectures. At TLC, I attended the second of three talks about Sea Turtles. These are given by Kris Williams, who I remembered (and amazingly, she remembers me, too) from turtle “camp” in 2011. She is very knowledgeable and articulate, and I’m fascinated by all the turtles, but especially the loggerheads, that nest in Georgia.

On Thursday, I met Kay at the Jepson for a lecture to accompany the exhibit that is opening. It is Monet to Matisse, a collection of impressionist paintings on loan from the Dixon Gallery in Tennessee. We were early enough to be able to walk through the exhibit before the lecture. There were paintings by Degas, Cezanne, Renoir, Seurat, Cassatt, Chagall and, of course, Monet and Matisse, and others. The speaker gave a wonderful history of the movement, and how it developed.  

On Friday, I went to City Hall before DH to hear one of my favorite speakers, City Archivist Luciana Spracher, give a talk on Savannah architect Hyman Wallace Witcover. He was one of the architects who designed the current City hall building, and did may other public and private buildings in Savannah.

Neighbors John and Dave returned to Savannah this week. Now, our little development has witnessed the return of almost all of the snowbirds. I had been asked to keep an eye on things for them while they were in Connecticut. I failed miserably, I killed their orchids, their car died, and I failed to pick up a package from their front door. Oh well, maybe next year they’ll ask someone more reliable.

Saturday morning I went to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The forecast was for rain, but the storms didn’t come until later in the afternoon. It was just hot and muggy. I’d forgotten how much I hate to walk. It was only two miles (but add to that the walking I had to do to be able to park in the free zone), but I was beat!

you know how much i enjoyed all the dogs

someday someone will have to walk for me

9/23/2018

Weekly Update 9/23/2018

This was the week that Jan Waggoner and her friend Frances came to visit. They arrived Monday afternoon, and left early Friday morning. So, much of what I did this week involved tourist activities.

Monday morning, however, I did go downtown to the Georgia Historical Society. Abraham Baldwin’s draft copy of the United States Constitution is one of the national treasures of the GHS collection. One of only a few still in existence, the draft includes the handwritten margin notes of Baldwin, one of Georgia’s signers of the Constitution in 1787. In celebration of Constitution Day, The Research Center featured a public showing of the unique document. Almost every fifth grader in Chatham County Schools was visiting, and me.

The Georgia Historical Society HQ

I also did a lot of housework, went to an author talk at the library, and did the grocery shopping. Jan and Frances arrived just about supper time, and I made one of my specialty dinners: shake and bake chicken, packaged salad, and rice-a-roni (and I forgot to add the flavor package; it was awful). It was too late to visit anything, but we visited and looked over some brochures and made plans of things to see while they were here.

Because I had a lecture on Sea Turtles at TLC center that I wanted to see, Jan and Frances went downtown to take the trolley tour while I attended the lecture on Tuesday. I met them at the Tap House for lunch. We went to the Owens Thomas House and Davenport House. The Disney movie, Lady and The Tramp, is filming in Savannah. We walked past one of the “stages” at Wright Square. I’ll have to look for this background when the movie comes out. We also went to The 90. My bartender, Martha, doesn’t work on Tuesdays, but I wanted them to see where I spend so much of my time. June and Barbara came over to the condo to visit in the evening so I could impress everyone with what great friends I have.

a turn-of-the-century flower shop on Wright Square

taking photos in the Owens Thomas House

Wednesday, I parked at Forsyth Park and we walked. (As we were walking though the park, some man on a bench engaged us in conversation. He said he had been in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but I don’t remember. We did watch the video in the evening, and, sure enough, we were able to identify “Jerry” in the film) We did both the Telfair Academy, where Mary Telfair met with us and told some of her life stories, and the Jepson for the Art in Bonaventure exhibit. We wanted to go to the Harper Fawkes House, but there was a private event, so we were not allowed inside. We also went to the Prohibition Museum, and that was fun. When I’d visited a long time ago, the speakeasy wasn’t opened yet, but it since then, it has obtained a liquor license. I had something called Pimm’s Cup – delightful. And what visit to Savannah is complete without a trip to Leopold’s?  

at the fountain

with new friend, Mary Telfair

the speakeasy menu and my Pimm's drink

Thursday, we started at BC. Then out to Tybee. We went to Paula Deen’s Creekside Restaurant for a late lunch. The appetizer special was candied bacon – and it was really grand! We went downtown to tour Temple Mickve. But that was all the sightseeing we could possible fit into the time we had here. We were all tired, and they wanted to get a good night’s sleep to be ready to leave early Friday morning and drive 10 hours to get home.  

Jan & Frances getting their feet wet at Tybee

candied bacon

Temple Mickve

I hope they enjoyed being here as much as I enjoyed having them.

Friday I was back on schedule – DH and The 90. It was the first I’d seen Kay since she got back from UK, and I loved to hear her stories about visiting with Dave and Lisa. Saturday, I was even more back to normal as I got back in the pool to swim again after almost a whole week out of the water. I liked that! In the evening, there was a fund raiser at DH, which included a vintage clothing fashion show in the garden. It was nice until the bugs came out.

the DH garden 

the fashion models getting ready to parade

Sunday, I didn’t go to Coach’s. I’ve been embarrassed there for the first 2 games, and I had no reason to believe we wouldn’t get beat up on by the Vikings. So, perhaps all the Bills fans who are happy about a win have me to thank! And perhaps I’m not going to be able to go to any more games at the bar as I seem to be a jinx. I did meet with the Lunch Bunch for drinks at the Hyatt Hotel downtown in the evening. And I was dressed in my Sunday uniform.  

tucked away in the back - in the blue Bills shirt

9/16/2018

Weekly Update 9/16/2018

Thanks to all who expressed concern about Hurricane Florence heading my way. Savannah was never expected to be in the direct path, so we just pretty much ignored it. Here’s a photo of me, taken Thursday, preparing for the hurricane (check out the blue skies):

Thursday morning, Barbara and I volunteered to pack boxes of food for the local pantry, Second Harvest. Since Thursday was National Hunger Day, this had been planned for some time to help the food pantry meet future needs whenever they arise. But, some of the boxes could be used for people impacted by Florence. We had empty boxes that needed to be filled with peanut butter, pasta, beans, tuna, grape juice, black eyed peas, cans of beef stew and prunes. The goal was to pack 1,000 boxes, and I feel that I did my part. We only stayed for about 2 hours, but that was more work than I’ve done in a long time.

I attended a nice lecture that evening. It was sponsored by the Georgia Historical Society and was an interview of author Dr. John Ferling by Stan Deaton. Dr Ferling has written several history books, and his most recent is Apostles of the Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe. There was also a book sale and signing, but I didn’t get there on time for that. One of the reasons I wanted to go to this was because it was held in Christ Church, and I haven’t been inside that church in many years. It is still as lovely.  

BC on Sunday was all confused. On the schedule, I was to open, and that was it for all day. But when I got there, the morning volunteers didn’t show up. I really did not want to stay because I had to be a Coach’s at 1 for the kick off, and I wasn’t wearing my Bills NFL apparel.  So, I locked up and left. Since neither of the volunteers who were supposed to be there in the afternoon had keys, I needed to go back and open for them. At 4, I believed there was another person scheduled to close, so I was just lamenting the poor play by the Bills football team (I use the term loosely), when I got a call that no one had shown up, and could I come to lock up so they could leave. So, back once again. I had already spent time this week trying to organize and understand the printing needs of BHS. Our chairman died rather suddenly, and he did most of the work himself. Now, the rest of us are scrambling to find out what has to be done. I said I’d talk to the printer company. I’m thinking that this cemetery stuff is going to overwhelm me soon, and I may be in over my head. I’M RETIRED! I DON’T WANT TO DO ANYTHING.  

9/9/2018

Weekly Update 9/9/2018

I did nothing at all on Labor Day. I’ve mentioned this before – holidays are rather meaningless now that I’m retired. All they really mean is that I don’t get any mail.

I had a couple of MP pool parties this week. Summer is coming to an end. I finally invited Connie, Barbara and Jane to the pool for a something light to eat and a nice, cool swim on Tuesday. On Friday, another resident / owner here put together a picnic, and I went to that. It was the best attended event I’ve ever been to here, and it was nice to have that many people show up. The dish-to-pass items were great, too.

On Wednesday, DH hosted the annual meeting for the Coastal Museum Association. This is the group that I have the free entry pass from for most of the places in Savannah. The Bonaventure Historical Society is part of this group, but we’re kinda scrambling since our chairman died last month, and we’re not sure exactly how he handled many things – organizations, printing, records, etc. Since I’m familiar with DH, I offered to attend this meeting and see what I could find out. I am now the liaison between CMA and BHS. And next week, I’m meeting with the printer to see if I can be the contact person for any printing needs we have. Why do I volunteer for this stuff?  

The sports weekend kinda sucked. I was really happy about the big wins for SU and UGA on Saturday. But the Bills really let me down – not that I was surprised. The horrible loss was made even worse when Tyrod Taylor did so well with the Browns. I don’t even want to talk about the tennis. 

9/2/2018

Weekly Update 9/2/2018

I was tied up with the A/C repairs all day on Monday, but it’s over now, I’m cool again (although quite a bit poorer). I hope this doesn’t happen again for a lo-o-ong time.

And that’s pretty much all I did all week. I read some. Watched a lot of sports on tv. Went to the pool. Wasted time. It was a lovely week of nothing going on.

So, while I didn’t do a lot this week, I did do this:

I'm ready for some football!