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.