beachwalks
delighting in the journey
Thursday, March 21, 2024
a-list and a legion
Sunday, March 17, 2024
40th anniversary of being a veteran
Saturday, March 16, 2024
200th anniversary of parade in Savannah!
There are expectations of more than 500,000 visitors just for this one event.
It's the 200th Anniversary of the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in this seaport and it began at 10 AM.
I think I most remember the parade from 1984.March 16th that year was my final day as an active-duty member of the US Navy.
[This is the 138th entry of 309 groups participating in the 2024 parade. Two hours have already passed.]
The "i"s were all dotted and the "t"s all crossed to verify I was fit to leave.
[This is the Naval Junior ROTC group at Jenkins High School. We didn't have that when I was a student there. The time is now 12:30 PM.]
[Here are the members of the Savannah branch of the Navy League, right on the heels of the high school group.]
Hahaha! That's a little joke, y'all!
[These sailors are with the submarine base at Kings Bay, just south of Brunswick. They were the third, and last, of the Navy entrants.]
I can't say I remember a lot of that 1984 parade, but I can definitely say this: it was considerably shorter than the one this year.[Here's one of my favorites every year: the bellydancing man with the Alee Shriners! This year, he seemed a bit tired by this point in the parade. That's certainly not surprising, as he's been walking and dancing almost three and a half hours... and the parade isn't done yet.]
I kept watching, flipping back and forth between WSAV and WTOC.When WSAV stopped, I stayed on WTOC, who, bless them, kept going to the very end, at 2:30 PM.
Four and a half hours of parade: wow.
[Here, as they are signing off, the trio sent greetings to Jimmy Ray. Hey! He's in Post 36 of the American Legion, with me! Very nice!]
Hopefully, next year, I may venture down to experience the parade in person again.
I'm sure I can go with Tony and Laura!
That will be very nice, indeed.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
i won a prize? from a survey??
Indeed, I did!
When I first received the email with "library survey" in the subject line, I'd thought it was a solicitation to answer questions about Live Oak Public Library, the system here in Savannah.
That was back in the third week of February and I put it off.
Last week, I finally read the email.
Apparently, I'd done the survey at some point in the past... and I won the gift card!!!
No, seriously.
And it's a substantial prize: $100!!!
No, seriously!
So, today, I made myself leave the house to pick it up.
The pollen has been kicking my sinuses, hard, and so I've been staying home, especially at night, when the symptoms are worst.
That means I've missed several events, like the Navy Brass Band on Monday, down at Tybee.
I had really wanted to be there, too.
But I know when it's best to let my body heal; that's why I won't be venturing down to Tybee for the SavArtsAcad Modern Band Showcase, either.
However, I did go southside to the Southwest Chatham branch of the library to take possession of my reward!
I also bought some meds to relieve my sinuses, and some sushi to relieve my soul.
Yes, I do believe I'm feeling better already.
(smile!)
Sunday, March 10, 2024
just look at all those signs!!!
kung fu fighters, for less than 5 bucks!
"Sweet!!! I take it that Comcast rewarded you with some free tickets?"
They did, them and Fandango! Comcast gave me a magic code for two free tickets from Fandango, so I used those to get 1 adult and 1 child, for Christina and Chloe. I did have to pay two cents, but what a deal! Then I went to AMC and got my A*List ticket, plus 1 child, cashing in five bucks of reward money with them. So that covered me and Miyah. And we all went to a brand-new movie for less than 5 dollars for the four of us!
"Woohoo!!! Gotta love when that happens!"
Yep! And even though I had already seen "Kung Fu Panda 4", I enjoyed it even more so in their company! And of course we got up and danced during the end credits! I was a little embarrassed when I saw that Tom and Aliscia were standing there watching, but I got over that and kept dancing up there on the apron! I don't think Chloe even noticed them.
"You're talking about Tom and Aliscia of the AMC? They had clean-up detail?"
They did. I told them about getting the girls started with that dancing routine post-movie back when they came for their first movie with me. I knew they had a long ride back to Hinesville and this was a way to kick out the jams, as Blue Oyster Cult would say.
"Yes, dear. Like anyone would know who that group was these days."
Heard. I haven't seen anything about them doing any "remember us" tours, but I haven't honestly been looking.
"Did you and that first niece get to chat at all?"
We did. And guess what the topic was? Her Papa! Amazing, right? So I told her about his name being said on Friday night... and she knew that line of his, too! And I told her about having lunch with him on Sunday and the gnats leaving me alone while I talked to him. That was about the time the gnats noticed us in the AMC parking lot. Those flying teeth are obviously hungry!
"I'm sure she appreciated those good stories about Ronnie."
I know she did. She said he's been on her mind lately, too. I'm glad I had fun tales to share.
"Good move on your part, changing your plans about the SCAD musical to last night instead of this afternoon."
Thanks. I completely agree.
(smile!)
Saturday, March 9, 2024
balloons! swans! beautiful!
Friday, March 8, 2024
friday fiesta, plus two!
Two just would not do.
As well as having the full contingent of Kamerons - that would be five, as Addison was down from Athens - and the full set of Smiths - that would be five, including me - we also had two guests down from north Georgia.
Yes, indeed, John and Sherry Schomburg were in town for the 45th Annual St. Patrick's Day Rugby Games at Daffin Park!
That's him, in the green shirt, next to Smitty, with Sherry sitting next to Mary, and Addison on the end.
On the other side of the three-table spread at Jalapenos of Sandfly were Tony and Laura, Betsy in green, Becca beside her, and, as always, Addison on the end.(smile!)
But wait, you say, were are the Kameron men?
Sitting to either side of me at this end!
On my right was Jimmy, with his margarita.
On my left was Mark, with his beer.
Hey, I didn't want to cause a fuss, so these were candids, right?
At least they're represented with beverages!
(smile!)
But did you notice something different this time?
Almost all the women are at one end, and all the men are at the other.
I'm the only female down with all those guys... and I loved it!
As well as letting me get to know more about Mark and Jimmy, I was treated to their tales of glory that ensued after Schomburg finished his meal.
That was great fun!
As I told them afterward, I miss hanging out with men.
I had men in the STERI program in high school, I had men at the Savannah Science Museum, I had men in the Cryptologic Technician Maintenance field in the US Navy, and I had men in chemistry classes as well as while teaching chemistry.
Yep, this was a very fun evening for me!
And we were there an hour longer than usual, so everyone there was having fun!Very nice!
And that's what the FedEx man had to say about my lawn, as he stopped to take a photo of it.
Yes, he did!!!
He said he's going to do his like that!
We both agreed that it was much better looking than the bland yards that my neighbors have.
(smile!)
Yes, a fun day that even my odometer wanted in on, with this cool mileage:
233445
so... what is the kiva of which you speak?
Kiva.org is a group that helps micro businesses get funding, $25 at a time, by crowd-sourced loans that must be repaid.
I have been part of Kiva for over a decade.
I belong to the Nerdfighters group, ever since July of 2012. It is thanks to them that I know about Kiva.
I had been doubtful of how it worked, but I took a chance, as it would not cost me anything to try it out. An angel in the Nerdfighters was offering the opportunity to bring awareness of Kiva to others.
Seeing how easy it was, I volunteered twenty-five dollars of my own money in support of a loan to another stranger working to better their lives and their community. Just $25. That's no more than most raffle tickets.
By September of 2013, that $25 I had lent was fully repaid to me. I had the option of withdrawing that money from Kiva and calling it quits... or helping someone else better their lives and community by investing that money in another loan. I chose to help another.
By November of 2015, I had relent that same twenty-five dollars seven times. Every time the loan I made was repaid to my Kiva account, I turned it around to help someone else. No further investment was made by me, just that initial $25, and I'd leveraged that money into helping make seven more dreams of a better life come true.
August of 2020 marked the 9th anniversary of me being a Nerdfighter. I had made a total of 26 loans, to 19 countries, to help people better their lives and the lives of their families and communities. All I had invested by that time was $175 of my own money. That would only have covered seven of those loans; the remaining 19 loans that I've made have been using funds repaid by those who had borrowed. That means I was helping them help others.
Since that time, my total loan count has ratcheted up to 51 loans. For those who understand how compounding works, this is a sterling example. The more money I've lent to others, the more that has been repaid to that 12-year-old Kiva account of mine, and the more money I can lend out again.
It really brings solace to my soul, just as donating blood once did. That avenue of helping others is closed now, as I have atrial fibrillation, but not before I reached a total of fourteen gallons donated. As each pint helps up to 3 people, and there are 8 pints in a gallon, then I was able to help support the lives of 336 folks in need... just by rolling up my sleeve.
See how easy it is to help make the world a better place?