baseball itch has been scratched

That looks like Grayson Stadium, doesn't it?
Well, that's because it is!
Did the Savannah Bananas have a game today?
Well, no.
The Eichholz Family Fun Day was held earlier, trying to lure folks out to the ballfield on this beautiful Sunday afternoon with the promise of free lunch, cornhole, and bouncy house fun for little ones.
I was there, enjoying the warmth of the sun and feel of the light breeze, breathing in that sweet smell of green grass mingling with red Georgia clay, dreaming of April days in the past when baseball would have been active on that ready-and-waiting field.
May 30th cannot get here soon enough for me.
I had thought some friends and family would be joining me today, but I was solo.
That allowed me to walk around, getting a feel for the view from different perspectives.
That photo was taken in one of the group boxes, at the topmost area of the stands.
Those all-you-can-eat tickets are thirty bucks.
The regular AYCE is eighteen, a 20% increase from years past.
That's okay... I'll make sure I get my money's worth!
(smile)

After I returned home, I worked in the yard another two hours.
I managed to complete my fourth bag of yard refuse, mostly poison ivy and drunken irises and rogue wish puff generators.
Plus, I added to the stack of limbs and brush from the front and back yards.
I've been working on all of this since Friday, after Tony cut the grass for me.



After changing out of my gardening duds, I was off to Forsyth...
but more on that later.
Right now, I'm concentrating on the baseball angle.
Going to the stadium had really made me hungry for my boys of summer.
What to do, what to do?
Then, I remembered that On Demand had listed "Major League II" as one of its free movies a week or so ago.
Might it still have the Cleveland Indians tale???
Might it please be there?
It was!!!
i thank You, God!
What fortuitous timing!
What a gracious plenty of actual game time on the screen!
What great fun seeing Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen and Corbin Bernsen and Dennis Haysbert in those uniforms!
Now, it's done and my boys of physics shall soon grace my tv.
Life is so good!
(smile)

i need a goat!

Truly, I do!
Maybe two goats would be best, as they could keep each other company whilst they keep my yards in check.
Then I wouldn't need a new lawnmower!
What brought to mind these beasts?
Well, the Savannah Stage Company performed a free play today, out at Forsyth Park, and it had four goats in it!
It had a troll, too, and a very lively frog.
(smile!)
The relatively new work, "Billy, Goat, Gruff: The Musical", lasted about an hour, and basically followed the story arc in this synopsis, rather than the traditional folk tale.

For instance, this four-goat family has a mom, named Melody, there near center stage.
Here, they're giving the preamble, "Once Upon A Time", while the play's actual lyricist, Ben Mackel, observes from the audience's perspective.
(That's him, on the left, dark blue shirt, tan cap.)
The frog is there on the right, in the pale green shorts.
(Nice touch, right?)

Sadly, after the intro we find that mom has died and the family is starving on their grass-poor side of the mountains.
The youngest, Billy, wants to follow Mom's advice to travel to the other side of the mountains to find the "Pasture of Paradise", but older brother Goat and Dad Gruff laugh it off as a lullaby.

What they don't know is that a hungry Troll guards the pasture.
And just what does this creature want to eat?
"Filthy Hordes of Goats", of course!
(What a fantastic, beastly, growly, delicious song!)
Hearing that a goat is heading his way, Troll dispatches Frog to lead the kid in.
(Get it? LOL!)

Lo and behold, just as Billy is wondering "Which Way Should I go?", Frog shows up to help the kid out.
What a nice Frog - not!
And who shows up as Billy is tripping over the rickety bridge?
The Troll, of course!
But he eventually allows little Billy to pass, with the promise of bigger goats - meaning bigger feasts! - soon to follow.

Soon enough, older brother is following in the littler one's hoofsteps, trip-trip-tripping over that bridge.
The Troll had been napping, but Frog rouses him somewhat.
Still in a stupor, Troll demands a tune from the trespasser... then drifts back to sleep as Goat sings his mom's lullaby.
Nice trick, that was!

Finally, Gruff caught up with the Billy and Goat, taking his turn on the swaying bridge, tromp-tromp-tromp!
Troll is done with allowing this horde to cross over to the pasture.
Time to do battle!
But Billy calls a halt to the squabble, wanting to know the connection between Troll and the lullaby their mom would sing to them.

Through a memory sequence,
we see Troll and Melody playing in their youth.
Then, Melody left to have a family, but never returned, breaking her promise to Troll.
Troll relents though when he finds she has died ... and they all lived happily ever after!
"Snip Snap Snout", y'all -
this tale's told out!
Hard to believe an hour had passed!
Bravo to all!


What to do next?
Well, it was that time of year again.
The SCAD Sidewalk Arts Contest had been held earlier, so why not take a stroll and enjoy the new decor on the sidewalks hither and yon?
So, hither and yon I strolled for about an hour, until it was too dark to take photos.
After all, that's what I do, right?
Right!
(smile)

And, of course, the first one I came upon was
directly relevant to all the yard work at my
house for the past week!
Plus, it was a delightful pun: "MOWzart"!
Right place, right time!

Oh, look!
It's the tiny dancer from my bedside table,
out in the world and dancing her heart out!
Now worries, though...
she was home again by the time I returned!
(smile)

Bees...
in...
space!
You know, like the "Pigs in Space" skits on
"The Muppet Show"?
Seriously, there's a science fiction tale that needs to be written about an apiary on Mars!

This drawing, of two boys on a beach,
also seems to have a story within.
I could positively hear the boy on the
right ask the boy on the left, "What
did you find?"
Can't you hear them?

I love the idea of education as a type of pollination!
This year has marked four decades of the Savannah College of Art and Design helping artists of all stripes bring their dreams to fruition.
(Hey, see what I did there? I used their mascot to weave a little bit of the old bee magic!
Go ahead, groan, but you know you liked it!)

I know I liked this!
What a cheerful take on little Bob the Minion - the one most childlike in his perspective on life - using his foot to hold down his bright balloon.
Why is he stepping on the string?
So he can wave hello, you silly rabbit!
And why is Carl the Minion's face on the balloon?
Because he always says "Bee do, bee do"!
(smile!)

HEAL thyself!

New father, new church, new home, in addition to a new job: each responsibility took its toll on time for writing his blog.
The new job, as Chorusmaster for the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus for their tenth season, was one he could not refuse. They granted him the opportunity to conduct in the arena of "choral-orchestral major works", as he phrased it.
Serendipity has a way of stepping in when least expected.
Last April, as the new Chorusmaster, he had organized the pieces for tonight's concert. With spring as an eternally optimistic season, he had turned to two of his favorite poets for inspiration and hope, gifts for his listeners in a troubled world.
Little had he expected at the time that he was choosing the music for his final time in front of this chorus.
However, that is exactly what has happened.
The SPO has been seeking a person to fill his shoes for the last few months. They are planning a series of musical offerings for their next season, each with a different Chorusmaster at the helm. They are hopeful that the audience will help them make the final choice, similar to the music contests on television, I suppose.
Meanwhile, Dr. Matt Caine still had this last concert to present. Laryngitis caused him concern for the days prior to today's evening performance. When he stepped up to the microphone on stage for his sound check, he told the folks in the booth that he might not be able to talk very loud, due to the larynx illness.
I happened to be standing in the right-center aisle, at the back, chatting happily with Joe and Lois. My position meant I was right beside the sound booth.
The Chorusmaster had no sooner finished telling his voice woes than I threw my right hand forward, palm toward an imaginary forehead, while uttering the classic line, "Heal thyself!" Then I watched, in surprise, as his head reeled back as if smitten, and heard him say, "Thanks. I felt that all the way up here!"
How very nice of him to play along!
And that must have relaxed him, too, as he had no vocal problems all night.
i thank You, God, that i was there to usher at the Lucas.
Sometimes, I think my being somewhere is for my benefit, but I am always pleasantly surprised when I find that I am there for someone else.
That's all part of being a volunteer, isn't it?
Pleasure at being part of a favorable experience for others?
It's just a perquisite if I happen to enjoy the event, too.

I certainly did enjoy this concert, as it so happened.
Walt Whitman's poetry is not very familiar to me, though it is more so ever since the exhibit "Open Road" at the Jepson, about this time last year.
Robert Frost's works, on the other hand, have been favorites since I first read them in Mama's copy of a poetry compilation. Apparently, I'm not the only one who cherishes his words. In 1959, Randall Thompson incorporated seven of the poems into a new musical composition, "Frostiana: Seven Country Songs", for chorus and piano. How fortunate that I have been introduced to the piece while I am still celebrating birthday60!
I'm not saying that I recognized all the poems in the piece. However, "The Road Not Taken" is one of my favorites and it was the first today. Then, "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" was near the end, which was fortunate; not only did I find myself reciting the words along with the singers, but it was so very lovely that I had tears in my eyes at the end of it. The next, and final song in this composition was "Choose Something Like A Star", the perfect ending to a glorious choral work.
Two pieces based on Walt Whitman's open-verse poetry preceded "Frostiana" and one more Whitman-inspired song followed. Those songs were, respectively, "Song Of The Open Road" and "Invocation And Dance", then "A Jubilant Song".
Altogether, the four works selected for this concert, aptly titled "Frost on Leaves of Grass", certainly did lead to a spirit of optimism for all present, including myself.
Thank you, Matt Caine, for this evening's beautiful program!
i thank You, God, that i was there!

not my Elvis, not quite an ETA, but still fun

So, as you may recall, last year I had several "Elvis-like" encounters after my July birthday60 trip to Las Vegas.
The first of those involved a documentary which purported to be about Elvis, but was more of a political statement interspersed with some remembrances.
The second was another documentary, this time courtesy of the PFS. However, this one turned out to be celebrating Elvis Costello. Oops.
I had enjoyed the third instance immensely! A robotic, roller-skating, Bollywood version of my main man? What's not to love!
This year, Elvis was regaled on television! As good fortune would have it, the program was a re-imagining of the very show I'd seen on that first night of the Las Vegas Elvis Festival. Yep, his December 1968 holiday special was on television again, all songs and skits included, with performances by current-day musicians. Of course, this televised one didn't have the real Little Egypt dancing.
(smile)
Now, the Savannah Repertory Theatre has given me another Elvis sighting!
Sure, the title - "The Legend of Georgia McBride" - doesn't bring to mind the King of Rock and Roll, does it?
But just look at this photo from the troupe's advertising!

Quite obviously, this modern musical-like play, written in 2015, has Elvis in the building!
I say "musical-like" because, as that style of theatre does, this play uses songs to advance the story along. Unlike that style of theatre, this play does not have the whole cast bursting forth in song. Only the lead character, Casey, actually sings, rather than lip syncs.

The majority of the play is set in a small bar in Panama City Beach - the one in Florida, y'all.
Casey is a skinny Elvis Tribute Artist and former drama major, trying to hone his act, when the owner decides to give the stage to his cousin's drag show instead.
Hilarity ensues, of course, as well as much hip-shaking and wig-wearing and bra-stuffing!
Along the way, we get to see just how talented Casey truly is, able to give his all to whatever role he is needed to play.
That speaks well of him, as it does for all the Elvis Tribute Artists of the world.
Each one is trying to portray Presley to an audience still hungry for that hip-swiveling, lip-curling, hunk of burnin' love.
Thanks, y'all, for the fabulous show tonight!
What a sensational season-ender!
I do hope I get the opportunity to come see it again!
(smile!)

Post Script:
Thanks, Scott, for joining me for the opening night performance!
Good to have dinner with you at the Chromatic Dragon, too!
What yummy Nachos of Mt. Doom - with enough for breakfast tomorrow!
(smile!)

doin' the phil

"You're feeling what?"

What?

"You said you're 'doing the feel'. So there is a new exhibit in town?"

No, no, not that at all. I'm doing the phil, p-h-i-l.

"Oh, that comedian in town that you went to years ago?"

Wow. I had completely forgotten about that. I can visualize the place, with its fairly rustic interior. I can even see him up there, flipping through his loose-leaf notebook of jokes, looking for each as he went along. I wonder where that was? Savannah? Tybee? Rincon or Pooler? All I know for sure is Jeff and I were still married.

"That guy's name was Phil, alright, Phil Keeling. I think it may have been in Pooler, but, yeah, that's been a minute, as the kids would say."

Honestly, I don't think the kids are saying that anymore. That slang has been around since 2008, at least.

"Oops, my bad. Hahahaha! That's even older!"

Yes, it certainly is. And now I've lost track of what you wanted to know.

"I want to know who this guy Phil is and what's going on with y'all!"

There is no guy "Phil". At least, there certainly isn't one in my life and it certainly wouldn't be that comedian, as I had not liked his idea of humor.

"Then why did you say that you're 'doing' the 'Phil'?"

Oh, I see the problem. You don't know that was texting shorthand in my 'conversation' with Carolyn about this weekend.

"No, I didn't get that at all. Is she seeing that guy?"

No! Forget about that jokester, would ya? She and I were trying to figure out when our paths would cross again. I'm working the David Sedaris show at the Lucas tonight, she isn't. She's working the Banff Film Festival there tomorrow, I will be with Scott at "The Legend of Georgia McBride". She's working the Savannah Philharmonic on Saturday...

"And you're working it, too! Okay, got it!"

That's right. And when I texted her back, I shortened it to "doing the Phil".

"I bet she liked that! LOL!"

Oh, you know it! She responded that we should use that as the title of our next album.

"You and she have made an album???"

No, silly rabbit, that's just her, off and running on a tangent.

"Good to know others do that, too, not just you and the physicist. Y'all have done that for years!"

Yeah, the way our tangents coincide is one of the things I love about the bfe!

"That I know! Y'all certainly don't see each other like you did when you were having your adventure in north Georgia at the lake or on that Midwest-Canada adventure."

Oh, and don't forget his birthday trip to watch the Derby Devils in Jacksonville!

"What a hoot that was!"

It really was. I wish we could still have those kinds of adventures, but he's been involved with girlfriends for the past few years. And now, now that he's getting married in the fall...

"He's doing what?!? The bfe is getting married?!? You've said nothing about that!!! That's huge news!!! Is he getting wed to chemistry Nicole?"

Why, yes, he is. They're getting married sometime between the end of the SERMACS and his birthday. So, that would be here in Savannah, sometime between mid-October and his birthday.

"Oh, my God. How could you have not said anything to me about this???"

I don't know, I guess I needed time to process it myself.

"You 'needed time to process it'? What does that mean? How long have you known?"

Well, it's been about a month, I think.

"A month?!? A MONTH?!? What???"

Yes, that's probably the reaction he was afraid I'd have to the news. That's why he'd put off telling me bout it for months, he hadn't wanted to distress me when he thought I was already distressed about stuff. Those were his words to me.

"Whoa. You have to let me catch up a little here. He'd put off telling you for MONTHS??? What does that mean???"

Here's what I know. He proposed and she accepted at some point last November. I didn't even have an inkling that they were that serious. After all, when he left Erica's house, he got his own apartment, right? I had wondered why he and Nicole had not moved in together, but I figured maybe they weren't that serious, right?

"Yeah, that would follow. He would want his own space if he wasn't going to stay with her. That makes sense."

So you would think. But when I went to his place for dinner in December, they were already engaged and he said nothing to me about her. Now, I didn't ask about her, either, so that's on me. I bet if I had asked him what was up with them, he might have said something back then. As it was, I didn't get the news from him, anyway.

"WHAT?!? Are you kidding me???"

Well, I did find out in his presence. I have to wonder if that was a set-up, like with Harry's first kiss, but it doesn't matter if it was or not, not really.

"So... just how did you find out?"

We'd dined at Hitch, the first time there for both of us. He had jokingly texted something about me "liking to get hitched", but I had passed it off. Maybe he had been hinting at his news? Pure conjecture on my part. Anyway, we'd walked over to Beach Institute for the movie. No sooner did we arrive than he ran into this woman, Jenny, that he knows... and she congratulated him on his engagement.

"Wow. I mean... wow."

Yeah. I had looked at him and looked at her and said something, then I'd left them to their conversation. When he came into the screening room, that's when he told me the details and that he'd wanted to tell me for months, but the time just never seemed right. He hadn't wanted to share his happy news with me when I was having bad times.

"He had been concerned about you not being happy for him?"

Well... I don't know that it was quite that. Who knows, right? The important thing is this: I know now. I'm really looking forward to it, too! I wonder who will be officiating for them?

"Oh, no doubt he knows others who are ordained like he is for such things."

Sure, but I wonder if maybe Cliff will be doing it? That could be quite cool.

"Well, I think you need to ask him about it! Show that you care, that you're interested, maybe even that you're willing to help him and Nicole plan the wedding..."

Um, I haven't been asked to do that last part, okay? I mean, it's not like Nicole and I have ever sat down and talked to each other. I get it, I do. I'm his friend, not hers. But you are right that I need to actively talk to him about this, because this is a major event in his life and I want him to know I'm there for him.

"Exactly."

Egg salad, did you say?

"Funny. Ha ha ha. You're hilarious."

I'm a hoot and a half, baby!
And now I need to find some papers before my 2 PM meeting with Ricky Pavelock.

"That TIAA rep?"

The one and only! He's a really straight shooter and I need to know just what is about to happen now to my retirement accounts with them. It's bad enough that my account numbers were changed with no notification to me. Now, on April 30th, some other change is going on that's threatening my retirement checks. I thank God that Ricky was going to be in town this week for me to get that hashed out!

"Wow! What excellent timing!"

Truly.
Now I must be done with sitting here, so...
later, chick!

"Later! Hope all goes well with your financial appointment!"

just what i needed

I do so appreciate these little nudges from
the universe to reassure me that I am in
the right place at the right time.
This odometer reading, 206050, was from Thursday.
I had noticed it after the movie, just before
going to join Carolyn at Applebee's for our own
little "javaflicks" talk.
(smile)

My car's mileage was at 206060 on Saturday.
Where had I been?
Well, since my outing on Thursday, I'd been home.
No movies, no meetings with anyone, just "in".
Partly the weather was to blame, as it had chilled.
Again.
After I had already opened the sunroom.
Nevertheless, on Saturday, I had thrown myself out
of the house to get the car gassed for the trip north.
The odometer reading arrived just as I was pulling into
the gas station.

This odometer reading - 206206 -
greeted me as I was almost to the Prouty house
for the Easter dinner.
Perhaps it was letting me know that I was almost
too late for the meal with everyone.
I had been told 1 PM, but they had begun quite a bit
earlier, since "everyone" was there.
I had arrived as all were finishing up.
My thanks, Jenny, for your help in fixing me a plate
and finding me a place to sit at the table.)
At least this bunny was "hoppy" to see me!

Jenny is to thank for that cake, too.
Bonnie and Howard were there from Tallahassee,
and so were sister Becky's son and his family
(Chris, Charitie, Iralynn, and baby Dawson).
Terrie and Mike had returned from her 40th
birthday trip to Key West, too.
But the children - Jenny's Lucas and Julie -
and the egg hunt were the high point for me.

The trip was a welcome distraction from my thoughts of Jean Marie.
She would have been thirty-three, had she not taken her life two years ago.
Part of me had not recognized that Easter was falling on her birthday this year.
It wasn't until "CBS Sunday Morning" aired a story on missing children that my conscious mind made the connection.
Teardrops in my coffee...
I had almost not gone to Augusta.
I'm glad I did, though.

For Thanksgiving, Bev and Alan will be enjoying the Northern Lights in Iceland.
If I had not gone for Easter, then it would be more than a year between visits.
She'll be retiring from teaching after next summer.
She has this summer, the school year, and then next summer before she's d-o-n-e.
She's looking forward to not grading papers, too.
(smile)

Last night, I threw myself out of the house, with
the help of Carolyn and Barbara.
They'd planned an outing for Indian food and
an Indian movie and Carolyn had pretty well
insisted I come along.
Thank you, dear!
This Mulgatani soup from Naan Appetit really hit
the spot with all of us teen dost!
(That's "tres amigas" in Hindi, y'all.)

The Channa Masala was superb, too, very tasty
and quite spicy - perfect with plain naan!
I always try the House Specialties and this was exactly what I needed to jolt me out of my doldrums!
In fact, the entire evening was just what I needed.
The movie, "Kalank", was pretty people making poor decisions - in other words, pure soap opera, but with singing and dancing!
Delightful - and a marvelous trip out of my head.

Who could ask for anything more?
I'm pretty sure Barbara would be in agreement.
Last night, she finally received the coffee mug I had made in early March for her and Sandy to commemorate our trip to North Carolina.
Two of the three (get the joke?) on the mug were from our day on Grandfather Mountain.
The third photo is just me, with that Banner elk.
(smile)

This morning, I used my NC mug for my breakfast coffee!
Inspired by the Naan Appetit meal, I browned three rectangles of tofu, then smothered them with beaned-up turkey chili that I made earlier this week.
(I had been craving hot dogs with chili after the impromptu Thursday outing with my first niece and her girl. Trying to stay mindful of WW guidelines, I had chosen two Hormel varieties, one low-fat vegetarian and the other with no beans. Oddly, they were both the same number of Smart Points.)
I like that recipe name I created: beaned-up turkey chili.
Perhaps it was mindful of the nearing May the Fourth.
Sounds to me like something an irked Spock would have to say about an odd bird from a cold planet, thawing on the teleport pad!
(smile)

on the guest list again!

"Which guest list might that be, dear?"

For the American Red Cross' Donor Awards and Appreciation event!

"How very nice for you! Like the event last year?"

Yes, it was! It was quite a nice luncheon today, too. Plus, I'll have a big salad from the leftover veggies and deli turkey that was there!

"Oh, that's wonderful! That's so much better for you than all those potato chips and cereal from last night..."

Hey, that's enough of that. I've tracked it all, every bite, so it's all good now. I just couldn't seem to find what it was I had a taste for, you know? So I was eating everything trying to satisfy that 'itch' that I couldn't identify.

"No worries, dear. You've handled the matter exactly right."

Thanks. I am trying to continue on with the program. Yesterday, I received the "25 lbs milestone", a green charm. I talked a lot at that meeting, too. I made sure everyone knew it had taken me 14 months and that the weight loss acknowledged by that charm was a "net loss", as I had easily lost twice that amount over that time span.
I think I actually freaked some folks out.
I've been abnormally quiet since they started this new program.

"Yes, I am aware of Wellness Wins as the change in semantics. Tell me more about this special luncheon today! What did you win there?"

What makes you think I won anything? (smile)

"No need to play coy with me! I'm sure they had movie trivia again!"

Yes, they did! This time, it wasn't quotes, though. The emcee described a scenario and we had to guess which movie it was. I don't recall the first movie title I 'won', but I now have a bright red visor for it.

"That should be handy for yard work."

For sure!

"So, continue. What else did you win? I know you're saving the best for last."

Ah, you know me too well then!
And you are correct.
I only won one more prize for the movie trivia and it was for a movie I never saw.

"Oh, wow. No one else knew it before you?"

Nope. The emcee even had to give us a second hint, as no one was even guessing for the description. So, she was pantomiming pushing someone toward the front door... and I guessed "Get Out". And that was correct!

"Good for you! Yeah, I recall that is a horror flick, which you avoid."

Yeah, and apparently all the others there avoid them.

"So, give already! What was the prize?"

It was a promotional package from 2015. You know, like the recent one, with GoT. However, this one came with a limited edition cooking spoon, plus celebrity recipes.

"How cool! Did you know any of the chefs?"

Nope, not a single one, never even heard of them before. I do like the spoon!

"Seriously, how did you even know they were celebrities then?"

The market manager was there and she told me. I was about to give it away to an older gentleman at my table, as he had not won anything. Instead of that recipe set, he took the water bottle I won in the raffle.

"Well, that was nice of you to share the largess!"

Hey, it was the least I could do. He was the one who waved me over to the seat at his table.
(smile)

"How very nice of him! Now, come on, spill the beans already. Who were the chefs on those recipe cards?"

Oh, them. John Besh and Rocco DiSpirito were the only two who are professional chefs. Ellie Krieger is a nutritionist by trade, with a big web presence. I would think my nephew, Jason Barry, would know of her, as he works in that same world.

"Goodness! How many celebrities were featured?"

There was a total of six. Including those three, there were two chef-testants from tv cooking shows. Those were Richard Blais and Mike Isabella. The sixth one was Ali Larter. She is not a chef or in that general field; she's a scream queen actress. That seemed like an odd choice, but she's in the mix!

"Hahahaha hahaha! Nice cooking pun!"

Thanks! Good to have my humor appreciated!

"Anytime, dear! Now, don't you need to get ready to meet Caroline for a movie?"

Yes, I do! We're seeing "The Best Of Enemies" before it vanishes from the cinema. That true story about school integration in the South is certainly one I can relate to. It takes place in 1971, when I was 13 years old and going to Myers Middle School. A group of black teens from Savannah High School came over one day and caught me between buildings. They had me on the ground, kicking and hitting me, until I was finally rescued.
And why were they beating me?
Because of my skin color.
What craziness.
Still, off I go to revisit that time period, with my dear friend at my side.
(smile)

eggstra! eggstra! read all about it!

Now, then, before you get to thinking about egg salad, let me set you straight.
This doesn't have anything to do with that.
The truth of the matter is that real eggs were in no way involved.
However, plastic eggs were in great abundance!
Plastic eggs of many colors, filled with wrapped chocolates or other candies or toy whistles or yo-yos or a variety of other goodies!
I'm talking about the Eggstravaganza! at Calvary Day School!
Never heard of it?
Well, I had not either, until my first niece called me at 5:15 this prevening.
(Hey, thank Sheldon for that word, okay? I rather like it!)
As I was saying, Christina called to ask if I wanted to join her and the littlest girl for an egg-hunting experience.
Of course I wanted to do that!
And so, that's what I did!
(smile!)

Great googly moogly!
Look at all those eggs!!!
But hold on -
not quite time to start!

Oh, Miyah!
Look at that pretty purple one!
Put it in the basket!
Then, get that yellow one!
Oh, and the orange one, too!

So very many eggs!
Good thing the basket is pretty big!
It's getting heavy, too, from all these eggs!
Wow!
Who knew there would be so many?

And who knew there would be so many egg hunters?
This first batch was just the pre-school kids -
the older kids had to wait until the little ones were done.
How very nice of the organizers!

Okay, all done!
Time to sit down and check out the contents of some of these eggs!
Oh, look at that pretty candy!
Look at that little toy!
Look at that!

Then it was time to have dinner.
Yes, that's right - we were fed, too!
Hot dogs! Chips! Cookies!
Carrots and broccoli, too!
Even some other vegetables!
Not that we ate any of those, thanks, we were ready to sit and that was another line!

Thank you, Christina, for inviting me to be one of the Three Musketeers!
Thank you, Miyah, for holding my hand and making sure I didn't get lost!
i thank You, God, that I was home for this call.
(smile!)

let the sun shine, let the sunshine in!

My lovely little sunroom is, at last, open for breakfast again.
No more do I see this drape billowing, as it did recently on April 1st, as the cold air tried to forcibly enter my house.
I took down the partitioning sheet late afternoon yesterday...
just in time for the weather to dip into the 50's last night.
That's okay, I still have my heated mattress pad and double-mink on the bed!
I was nice and toasty while I slept.
(smile)
Not so much the case when I awoke at 8 AM...
so I went back to bed another two hours.
Ah, the luxury of being retired!
My thanks to the Georgia Board of Regents.
I truly have enjoyed not having endless mounds of papers to grade.
One the other hand, I've missed being in the classroom and seeing the faces of students light up as they 'get' the concepts.
Will I return to teaching some day?
Well, technically, I'm still an adjunct at Savannah Tech -
yes, even though it's been two years since I taught there.
Funny, right?
That pretty much means that I can claim both sides of that coin.
I'm either retired or a professor still, depending on my whim.
That's pretty sweet!
Next year, by this time, I will have applied for my Social Security benefits.
Thanks to my HVJ High School friends dropping knowledge on facebook, I have learned that particular process can be started three months before my 62nd birthday.
Several of them have already started counting down the days until they can!
Myself, I can patiently wait until February 29th - or perhaps a few days after.
(Yes, 2020 will have that extra day for us.)
What a relief to know that I can look forward to that money!
(smile!)
My thanks to the 74th US Congress, which passed the Social Security Act in 1935.
My thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32nd President, who signed it into law.
i thank You, God!

dale, yeah!

This matinee performance by the Armstrong Masquers found me in my seat in Jenkins Hall.
"The Great American Trailer Park Musical" is the last of the 'free' faculty tickets I received last fall... just prior to submitting my school ID card to the personnel office.
That's right, folks.
Before I went into 'retirement' from this university, I made sure I had a ticket to all three of the main stage productions as well as both of the black box productions.

I think of it as part of my severance package.
I think Betty, Linoleum, and Pickles would be in complete agreement with me.
(smile)
They're the Greek chorus for our journey into Armadillo Acres, as well as representatives of the three most popular hair dyes: redhead, blonde, and brunette, respectively.
I had already seen the play last May, down at the Tybee Post Theatre, as part of my birthday60 celebration. (I had intended to write about it, but at least someone else did.)
However, that cast was a bit different in age, skewing upward, actually closer to the actual ages of the characters.
Today, it was all college students, so that meant they were making up in energy what they lacked in age.
Boy howdy, they sure accomplished that!
From my seat, I saw the surprise on their faces as I sang along, too!
Yes, indeed, from the opening lyrics of "This Side Of The Tracks" by the trio of women, to "The Buck Stops Here" from stripper Pipi, through "The Great American TV Show" and "Storm's A-Brewin'", and right on in to Duke (aka Elvis Aaron Garsecki) wailing about "Roadkill" as he speeds to reclaim his ex-girlfriend.
Who might she be?
The stripper, of course, played adorably by Cassie Martinez, with an overbite that rivals that of Queen's frontman.
Bravo to all for such a rousing performance!

What else have I seen during this GA-BOR-mandated "traditional" academic year?
The first was "The 39 Steps", which I had mistaken for the serious Hitchcock version.
I was so very wrong about that, as were Barbara and Jackie, there with me.
Instead, the Masquers performed the play written as decidedly tongue-in-cheek.
Amazingly, only four actors are needed to portray the entire story line!
This troupe allowed nine of its members to inhabit the multitude of characters - and much hilarity ensued!

I opted to not see "God of Carnage" when it rolled into the Black Box last October, even though I had a ticket.
I simply was not up to the task of watching people behaving badly to each other.
I'm sure someone was glad of my vacated seat in that small space.

I most definitely was present for their "Twelfth Night", though!
I adore that bit of Shakespeare, no matter how often I get to see it!

The fourth production, again in the Black Box, was "Bright Ideas". I made sure I was there for it, too! Sure, it was also about people behaving badly to each other, but with much mirth, so it was quite palatable!

And now, this afternoon, I have seen the last of the five offered this season.
Maybe I can talk someone into getting tickets for me next year...
we'll just have to see about that, won't we?
Now, though, I'm going to have hot dogs with chili for dinner - it's been quite a few years since I had that!
Somehow, this play put that cuisine into my thoughts... imagine that!
Thanks, y'all!
(smile)

weird like me movies

In truth, I'd like to think I'm maybe not quite as odd as these characters...
I'd like to think so...
but, that's not really for me to determine.
Or is it?
Anyway, these two movies were seen in close proximity - in time, not space - and that increased their impact.
"Border" had been a film I'd voted to see for JavaFlix Savannah. It had seemed to be a "beauty and the beast" style of fantasy film, the ones I find so exquisite, making it exactly my cup of tea.
(Yes, that's a reference to the fairy tale I so adore.)
I had been mistaken about its theme, though.
The border official with the other-worldly sense of smell was not human, but a troll. She had no idea that she was not human until she met another who was similar in appearance to her. The movie dealt with society's general understanding of gender differences and the concepts of inhumanity and nonhuman, and did so quite well. In fact, those topics led to a quite lively post-film discussion in the church's community room.
I had very much enjoyed the movie and the discussion, but I was in the minority. Of the other ten people there, only two would have seen it again.
That was yesterday afternoon.
Last night - pretty much right after that event was over - I had bounced back from downtown to catch a movie as a nightcap, so to speak. What better movie than one in a similar vein, tyō sahi chaina?
Why the Nepalese version of my usual French phrase?
Well, that's to accentuate the amount of time that "Missing Link" spends in the Himalayas, searching for someone/something that is weird like Susan, aka Mr. Link.
Sounds like another case of confusing gender roles, doesn't it?
Yes, it certainly does.
Did she/he find another like her/him in the world of the yeti?
No, sadly, all she/he found there was prejudice and misunderstanding.
Well, considering how the other character fared in "Border", that was all for the best.
Perhaps, one day, that little checkbox and the rainbow-hued alphabet soup it has engendered will no longer be an issue.
Then, people will be humans, just another species of animal, as they always have been.
Hey, a girl can dream...

30th smf, day seventeen, musical matinee, a la broadway

What a grand way for me to 'exit, stage right' from the Savannah Music Festival!
The magnificent Sherrill Milnes was present, at 85 years old, to emcee the event at CMC.
The fabulous singers with Savannah VOICE were singing to me, seated in the audience for a change. (Thanks, Molly!)
Why would they be doing such a thing?
Why wouldn't they, after seeing me dancing and silently 'singing' along with them during their sound checks?
(smile)
How could I have resisted?
After all, they were practicing with songs from "Phantom Of The Opera" and "Frozen" -
and of course I knew those by heart!
Plus, it didn't hurt that I'd heard those last fall at the 29th Annual Levy Concert at the JEA.
(smile!)
Still, when that luscious baritone, Chad Sonka, sang "Music Of The Night", he looked straight at me almost the entire time.
Later, he sang to me again, this time "If I Can't Love Her", the one Dan Stevens did in the "Beauty And The Beast".
(smile!)
He wasn't the only man slinging tunes in my direction!
Sean Christiansen lent his tenor tones to "Out There", the wistful lament of Quasimoto.
Then, a little later, he watched me again as I 'sang' along with his breathtaking "Bring Him Home", Valjean's plea for a young man's life.
That almost brought tears to my eyes!
(smile)
Jessica Ann Best, mezzo-soprano supreme, also sang to me!
The first time was for "Let It Go", of course, as she had seen me warmly receive the "Frozen" tune earlier!
(How about that fancy footwork with those words, eh? Hahahaha hahaha!)
The next times, she and the entire group on the stage were having such fun, giving us "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" and "Greased Lightning" with plenty of vim and vigor!
I know I was certainly dancing in my seat!
(smile!)
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This was certainly the sweet, bright cherry atop my music festival sundae!
(smile!)

30th smf, tweed(y) at night

Does that microphone stand look centered?
No?
Good.
Neither was the artist.
Performing absolutely solo at the Lucas Theatre, the 51-year-old Jeff Tweedy seemed a bit off-center, too.
True, the last time he was here, in 2010, he was with Wilco, surrounded by bandmates.
Leading off with a murder ballad he penned in 1999 - "Via Chicago" - seemed to assure him that the audience knew who he was.
He loosened right up after that!
he joked around frequently up on that stage, even poking fun at himself. For instance, he said he had never seen another artist get the helpful encouragement that he does, with folks shouting out "Good job, Jeff" or "You're doing fine, Jeff", as if he looked like he needed that extra boost.
Of course, folks then called out those phrases to him.
Hahahaha hahaha!
I can't say I was familiar with his work, whether it was as a soloist, or with early group Uncle Tupelo, or with current band Wilco.
Americana just isn't heard on the radio stations preset in my car.
However, I very much like the references to the solar system and beyond.
At one point, he sang that "We're all blowing in the interstellar wind", so Don't Forget he was "your little galaxy", while in another he was "turning your orbit around" while every star "is a setting sun" - very cool nods to physics!
Plus, he was "a family ghost you never leave behind" - how sweetly sad!
"Passenger Side" was about a different kind of spirit - a physical liquid, so to speak. Amazingly, many in the audience were singing along with this drunkard's lament. He has "a court date coming in June", so he'll be "driving soon" - funny and sad. (Then again, perhaps I know far too many alcoholics.)
Believe it or not, he played four love songs. That's right - four! That's more than any other artist has given us!
"I'm The Man Who Loves You" and "Guaranteed" were for his wife, Susie. That second one had a darker cast to it, though not as much as "When You Wake Up To Me", about a man in a loveless relationship.
"You and I", on the other hand, gets used for wedding music. Nice!
My favorite song, though, was "Hummingbird", with its request from a ghost that "the great Milky Way would not allow to die alone" to "remember to remember me". Not only did it have spirits and physics, but it featured whistling!!!
That's music I can make!
(smile!)
Thank you, sir, for the concert!
Thank you, also, for the three-song encore!
I very much enjoyed this introduction to your music!
(smile!)

30th smf, day 16, stringband, interrupted

So, what was I doing here, at the Trustees, when my next gig with the Savannah Music Festival is over at the Lucas?
Well, there had been a dearth of volunteers for this event...
and I had the time available...
plus, I am fond of the Acoustic Music Seminar finale and have enjoyed it in years past.
So, I was there for 90 minutes, to help add song lists to programs, to welcome folks, to put programs into their hands.
(smile)
Fortunately, I was even able to enjoy some of the music written by these seventeen students who had spent several days being schooled by Mike Marshall and guest clinicians.
Liam Purcell, a 16-year-old mandolin player from North Carolina, was first up. He had applied for several years to the AMS program. He told us that he was glad he had not been accepted any earlier. Why? He said he would not have been mature enough.
Wow.
That sounds like he is truly growing up right!
His instrumental piece, "Lindale", was performed with four new friends. I visualized a kite flitting lightly hither and yon with a playful breeze - very nice!
I hope to see his bluegrass band, Cane Mill Road, here at SMF one day!
(smile!)
Liv Greene, a 20-year-old songwriter out of Washington, DC, presented a new piece, "Halfway Lover". Fronting a sextet, she sang a tune that Patsy Cline would have been proud to call her own!
Who knows, maybe it'll show up on a radio hit list soon!
(smile!)
The last one I was able to hear was "Tasajalka", a very lively piece performed by another sextet. I missed which of the three fellows had chosen this work by Tero Hyvaluoma, though I think it may have been the 18-year-old fiddler from Washington state, Evan Snoey. I do know that he chose it because the lively instrumental is of his heritage, it being a Norwegian jig.
(smile!)
I do know all three pieces had my toes-tappin'!
I wish I could stay for more...
but I have Tweed(y) in my future!
(smile!)

30th smf, day sixteen, two robbies at noon

Yes, I realize that sounds like some casual headline on the midday news.
Trust me, it was sooooo much better than that - and fun, too!!

That's Robbie Gjersoe in the foreground there, post-concert, holding his guitar.
Behind him and near the stage is Robbie Fulks, the tall cool one in the pink gingham.
Together, they were the great comedic duo playing classic country for the noon30.
Yeehaw, y'all!
They started out with North Carolina on their minds, touting it as the "Cigarette State" and taking a dig at Alabama - "the band, not the state". Quite funny!
By the show's end, they still had that state on their mind, bidding "Fare Thee Well, Carolina Gals", and adding, "I'm going where you can't find me, there'll be trouble in the days to come, and a lot more fools behind me"!
Sure am glad I'm a Georgia peach!
(smile)
In between those tunes, they slung out an incredibly diverse playlist of Fulks' songs from over the past few decades, as well as having that Robbie tellin' tales along the way. "The Buck Starts Here", a Hank Williams-influenced song, with "Needed" a ballad of a young man finding out about taking responsibility. Swinging doors and whiskey women led us into "I Just Lived A Country Life", talking about the honkytonking way of living. Truly excellent and classic country, for sure!
But that classic country has a flip side, too, full of humor at dealings with the opposite sex. Take "Every Kind Of Music But Country", in which a guitar-picker has chosen a woman who doesn't care for his genre. Or how about "It's Always Raining Somewhere" where the guy is thankful to be rid of a devilish female - that one had us hooting and laughing! So did "Seventies Jesus", featuring a hippie chick who rocked Christian Style - woohoo!
As much as I liked all of those, it was his "one and only love song" that got me.
After all, he wrote it for his wife, who was "Sweet As Sweet Comes".
What a lovely sentiment!
Thanks, y'all, for a fabulous noon30!
To think, I almost canceled my shift today at the Morris Center.
I had heard them accompanying the film yesterday and had the thought that I needn't hear them again.
That would have been such a mistake!
i thank You, God, for this fabulous final noon30 concert!

30th smf, day fifteen, noon and night, with film

Today's noon30 at the CMC was easily my favorite event of the entire music festival.
Not only was the music phenomenal for the ear and my dancing feet, but this was also a much-welcomed visual treat after the sparse eye appeal of last night's concert.
Just look at the instruments!
How ornate and beautifully colored!
You know how I am about things being prettier than they need to be - I appreciate aesthetic details!
All total, there where twelve

stringed Mongolian instruments on stage, as well as a flute, a horse's hoof, and a drum that had ridges on the side.
I have never seen so many people taking photographs of the empty orchestra before!
Notice the rich, vibrant colors!
The people wore rich colors, too.
The nine members of An Da Union hail from different regions, but have a united goal of keeping alive the music of their homeland.
Mission accomplished with me!
From the very first song, they had me dancing and trying to sing along on the refrains, even though I didn't speak the language.
That first one convinced me that their highlands music was akin to bluegrass. However, instead of train sounds, we were treated to herds of galloping horses, tossing their manes and giving an occasional whinny!
All true, all true! I saw them with my own eyes!
(smile!)
Don't believe me? Give a listen to "Wind Horse" and see I speak truth!
Not that all the songs dealt with horses, of course.
"The Herdsman" featured "Cassanova" singing and hamming it up - fun!
A more somber, more beautiful song was "Altargana", about a mother waiting for her child to return. The singer gave me a warm hug when she came back to the stage door.
(smile!)
They both sang another song about love of mothers, which has a video with scenes of their homeland - beautiful.
But what was truly thrilling was the throat singing! "Derlcha" showed that off quite well, rap battle style!
I admit to being fascinated with the throat singing. I even tried it out and was surprised how much I felt it in my chest! Maybe that will be helpful for clearing up congestion there? I'll have to give it a whirl sometime!
Many thanks for the inspiration - and the inspiring concert!!!
i thank You, God, for leading me to these music gatherers!

My second event was one of the six on my "must have" list.
I knew it to be a combination of live music and a silent film composed of video and photographs taken in 1941 of life in a Southern town (as opposed to a Northern town).
(That was a little inside joke for me, based on a karaoke experience.)
"Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait" was the result of Jenny Scheinman, folk musician, poring through almost three hours of H. Lee Waters' footage at Duke University.

That was back in 2015, when she was commissioned to create this work of art.
After editing the three reels of film into cohesive story segments, and composing the music to accompany those segments, the film shown tonight was created, as well as the separate soundtrack, "Here On Earth".
We were graced with the music performed live!
That was very nice, as was the 'moving portrait' of that North Carolina town.
Still, it was a rather somber experience for me.
I kept wondering how many of the people in the film were still alive.
Those videos and pictures were produced seventy-eight years ago.
My Aunt Linda will be 79 years old on Monday.
She is too young to have any memories of 1941.
I really wish my stepdad was here to talk to about that.
He would have been a teen then... and 97 years old, if still alive today.