5/29/2022

 

Weekly Update 5/29/2022

I didn’t do a lot this week except watch the tennis on tv. And the UEFA European Championship match. There was some very good tennis matches, and I enjoyed watching those. The football was not as good, as Liverpool should have won. But time of possession isn’t what wins games, scores win games.

Wednesday, after DH, I met with the Newcomers friends. We had dinner instead of just drink this week in honor of the members of the group who have May birthdays. You know who that means.

I could barely move for the rest of the week. I finally got out on Sunday. I already had a ticket to the SCT performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, so I saw that. Then I had been invited to John’s condo at MP for a very nice dinner. That was nice too.

Adrian, of course, is a life line for me. When I’m feeling that the whole world has gone straight to hell, I get a new photo of him. He brings joy to my heart. 

5/22/2022

 

Weekly Update 5/22/2022

I finally got to the pool this week. In fact, I went three times. In other years, my tan has almost been complete by mid-May, but this year, I just didn’t feel much like going. Temperatures rose to the 90s this week, so I used that for motivation. It really felt good to be back in the water.

Tuesday, after volunteering at City Hall, I went to the Pool Library book club. We were supposed to read a book on the subject of health. Some choose stress relief and relaxation, one read about Alzheimer's, another read a book about keeping your brain young. None of those things were interesting to me, and I didn’t feel like reading about how bad obesity can be. So, I stretched the criteria a bit and read a book called The Missing Kennedy. It was a memoir by a member of the family who had the responsibility for caring for Rosie at St Coletta, an institution in Jefferson, Wisconsin. There was mental illness in the care-giver’s family, and the author tried to parallel the stories. I did not buy it – there is a HUGE difference between mental retardation caused by lack of oxygen at birth and a failed lobotomy and postpartum depression and bi-polar mental illness. But at least I made an effort to read something and I could report on the book. Next month we’ll all be reading the same novel, and I’ll like that a lot better.

In other book news, I attended a lecture with the Savannah Victorian Society about Alexander Dumas père. My friend, Roger Smith, talked about the author, his heritage, his life, and his prolific writing. Who knew?

I found a group of knitters on the Next Door App. They meet in Pooler at a coffee house two times a month. I had briefly joined a group on Wilmington Island when I lived on that side of town, but it stopped when the pandemic hit. That group would just meet, work on whatever project they were currently engrossed with, and talk. The group in Pooler has a different focus. They knit things using donated yarn that may be needed in the community – lap blankets for seniors, hats and scarfs for the homeless, baby blankets for hospital, etc – and they talk. I think I’ll like this group.

Adrian had quite a week, too. I think it was also hot in Rochester, so he spent time in the park, on a picnic, and playing in the water. All the photos made it seem as if he was having a great time. I think Sarah and Jack are fantastic because they give Adrian so many different experiences. Another thing he did this week was to visit the Strong Museum of Play for the first time. The museum is huge, and there’s so much to do there. I’m sure he was overwhelmed, but I’m hoping this is the first visit of many throughout the years. I also had the opportunity to meet with him on Zoom this week. I read two books to him, but I think I’m pretty boring, or maybe the books I read weren’t that interesting. But it thrilled me to see him!

5/15/2022

 

Weekly Update 5/15/2022

In 1959, an art museum that featured the works of African American artists was opened in Savannah, Kiah House. It was in the home of Dr. Calvin Kiah, a professor at Savannah State College, and his wife, Virginia, a public school teacher and artist. Because at the time, Blacks were barred from visiting local art galleries and museums, Virginia Kiah opened her home for works to be displayed because she thought it was important for all people to have access to the fine arts. When she died in 2001, the gallery closed and the house fell into disrepair. It was threatened with demolition many times, but finally, twenty years later, the Historic Savannah Foundation stepped up, purchased the house, and will finance the repair work. On Monday, I went to the unveiling of a historic marker that was installed by the community to tell the story of Kiah House.

I amazed myself on Tuesday be getting up and getting downtown by 9 am on Tuesday. The staff at Davenport House had asked experienced docents to come in and brain storm about the changes that were taking place. They asked what was working with the changes involved with moving to the Kennedy Pharmacy, and what needs improvement. That was very interesting. My complaint is that I don’t have enough time to tell the same stories that I’d been telling for years because it takes longer to get into the museum itself. I anticipate that when the final renovations are complete, and the raised basement level is redone to show how it must have looked in the 1820s, there will be even more information that I will want to share. I don’t think longer tours are the answer, but I’m struggling to know which stories I can omit. I really like that we were asked for our opinions, and that we were listened to. When does that ever happen?

Thursday, instead of meeting in Green Square, Jane, Helen, Denise and I went to the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. We’ve been meaning to do that for a while, but this was the first time we’ve all been available, and the weather was nice. Established in the 1880s as a bamboo farm, it was leased to the USDA until 1979,and then was deeded to UGA, where it became part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. It is open to the public to wander about the bamboo forests, and gardens. We were a little late visiting, and most of the blooms were gone. But it was a lovely day, and it was great to walk around the beautifully landscaped area.

Thanks to all for the cards and greetings for my birthday this year. I don’t like birthdays, but I also do not like to be forgotten. I was pleased to get so many good wishes from friends and family. I even had a delightful video from Adrian, playing with a balloon while Mommy was saying Happy Birthday, Great Granny! Thank you!

5/8/2022

 

Weekly Update 5/8/2022

As I was walking back from the pool on Monday, I saw a brown heron hiding in the reeds around the pond. I think he did a great job of camouflaging himself.

I had signed to be a guinea pig for a new audio tour at Laurel Grove Cemeteries, both North and South. So, on Tuesday, after I’d finished reading magazines at City Hall, I went to the cemetery to participate. It wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. The tour did not highlight the famous people buried in the cemetery, or the interesting stories, or even the most lovely monuments. It was a tour designed to inform about benevolent society sites. Only real history fanatics would be interested, and while I consider myself something of a fanatic, it was too boring for me. I could have read an article in the Georgia Historical Society publication and learned as much. And it was much too hot that day to wander a cemetery looking for the next place when it wasn’t made clear on the audio where, exactly, that next place was. Since I had volunteered, I did submit a critique, which I hope will be helpful when the final tour is submitted.

On Wednesday, the annual May Day event was held in Calhoun Square, right outside Massie Heritage Center. This day has been celebrated every May since the Massie School opened in 1856, but was suspended for that past two years because of the pandemic. It was a lovely day, and I was happy to watch all the school children from throughout Chatham County dancing and picnicking in the square.

I had book club on Thursday, and Sylvia and Charles came out to visit me at my “new” apartment (it was the first time they had been here) on Friday.

On Saturday, I got busy again. First I went out to Fort Pulaski. The Telfair Museums sponsored a special program about the enslaved peoples’ role in the fort. Not only were slaves used to build the fort, which was completed as a federal fort in 1847, enslaved people who were inside the fort were declared free in 1862 when the Union troops captured the fort. This was the first time slaves were freed.

After that presentation, I drove out to Bethesda to attend the Scottish Games. This is another event that I’ve always enjoyed, but have not been able to go to because of COVID. As weird as I am, with my general dislike of all animals, the thing I really wanted to see were the sheepdogs. They herded sheep and geese, and it was fun to watch them work. I also saw some dancing, some displays of strength (all the more entertaining because the big, muscular men with wild beards were all wearing skirts), and some bagpipe marching bands.

Sunday was Sarah’s first Mother’s Day! I got the most wonderful photo of her with Adrian! I think motherhood looks great on Sarah.

5/1/2022

 

Weekly Update 5/1/2022

Not much going on this week. I did have a delightful day on Thursday. I met Helen, Denise and Jane for a late breakfast at Clary’s, and that was very nice (blueberry pancakes). After that, I decided to go to the Jepson Art Gallery to see two new exhibits that had recently opened. I had watched a youtube video by the curator of the Jepson about the drawings of William O Golding, and wanted to see the exhibit. William O Golding was a black mariner who was born in Georgia in 1874. He spent most of his life sailing around the world, but became disabled and spent the last two decades of his life in the Savannah Marine Hospital. He died there in 1943. While he was in the hospital, he used pencils and crayons to draw many ships that he had sailed on, or just knew about, and also many of the ports he had visited all around the world. The drawings are all on 8 ½ by 11 sheets of paper. Until recently, he had been undiscovered, but the appeal of the primitive drawings has made him popular lately, not only in Savannah, but in collections around the country. The details are amazing.

The other exhibit was of photographer Bruce Davidson. He is a contemporary photographer who has worked through the 1960s to the present day. He attended RIT and Yale University. He is most noted for taking photographs of people or groups usually hostile to outsiders, like the children in the slums of Harlem and street gangs of NYC. He gets to know his subjects and his images reflect the mutual respect between him and them. Another very interesting exhibit.

On Tuesday, as I was walking from Forsyth Park to City Hall to volunteer, I was happily wandering through the park. A lady sitting on a bench called to me to tell me she liked my dress. It was the one I had made from a BED SHEET! I have had many compliments on that dress, but I only wear it because it’s comfortable and washes well. It’s embarrassing.

Saturday, I went to the MountainFilmSav show at the Trustees Theater with Jane and her sister. It was a series of nine short independent films, and the whole program lasted about an hour. The films were documentary style, and interesting. My favorite was a cartoonist who uses sidewalk chalk to make creative images in public spaces. Another was a young boy surfer in Ireland who befriended a dolphin. There was also a plea for safe havens for whales. I enjoyed that very much. It’s too bad the lines at Leopold’s were so long, because I would have liked to have an ice cream, too.

Adrian is wonderful! I think he’s been a little under the weather this week, and there were fewer photos posted. One really cute one is of him walking behind a push toy. The cart gets away from him a bit, and you can see him struggling to figure out how to get his balance back. Precious.