Category: Five Friday Happy Bringers

A weekly round-up of various things that provided me with joy and happiness.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 11/7/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Realizing last Saturday night that I can, as Cher so desperately wished, turn back time.

Goodbye, daylight savings time.

2. Embracing (well not literally) the Joy of Candles! Especially autumnal pumpkin spice-smelling candles.

(My heart was a bit broken recently when I discovered that pumpkin spice really has nothing to do with actual pumpkins. It’s called “pumpkin spice,” of course, because those spices are frequently found in pumpkin pie. Wouldn’t you think someone my age would know that?)

3. The ability to smell. (Well, most of the time.)

4. Our little potted Japanese Maple (aka JM), stubbornly refusing to admit that it is now FALL.

Here’s our little fellow about this time last year …

I haven’t shown the photo to JM. I don’t want to rush him and be one of those parents who cause their kids to develop “hurried child syndrome.”

5. And finally, this is a follow-up to my post the other day about finding those little Jesus figurines (!) on the gas pump at Kroger. Remember?

Well, yesterday HR and I went to Publix for our weekly It’s-Wednesday’s-buy-one-get-one-free shopping spree.

We were minding our own business, when lo and behold, I looked down at the BOGO queso and saw …

Wait. Look closer.

See Him?!

Yet another Little Jesus! Seriously!

I made Robert snap a photo for documentation (quickly, because people were beginning to stare.)

Somebody must SERIOUSLY be on a mission here in Savannah.

And may you complete a Serious Mission to find some Autumn Happiness this weekend.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 10/31/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Making our annual ofrenda (altar) for Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), celebrating our loved ones who have passed on before us.

Remembering HR’s kitty cat Boopers.

2. Halloween coffee this morning at one of our favorite coffee bars here in Savannah, Origin.

And the baristas who made them …

Robert has (dis)ability to have complete strangers line up for photos sessions.

3. The fortitude to laugh and savor the moment, even in the midst of our current political climate.

4. The Halloween morning light teasing our steep 1840’s stairs.

5. Cool Halloween decorations here in Savannah.

May your Halloween Weekend be filled with Good Spirits.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 10/24/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Yummy Muscadine Barbecue Wings I made the other night.

2. Walking into PetSmart and seeing this Halloween costume display for doggies.

Seriously?

3. Our sense of Sound. What are you hearing right now? Pause for a second and be mindful of all the sounds in your experience at this moment. Even if some of those sounds are perhaps a bit annoying (hello neighborhood dog that will not stop barking), still, what a blessing to be able to hear!

4. Being mesmerized by more than 10,000 pumpkins (!) on display on a recent trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

(P.S. I asked one of the garden workers what would happen to all of the pumpkins when they were removed. She told me they would be made into mulch for the garden. I felt better after that.)

5. This quirky drawing of a goat.

May something quirky give you a bit of happiness this weekend!

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 10/17/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Fall and chrysanthemums!

2. The ability to smile, even just a little bit, even when we may not feel like smiling.

3. This lone October blossom on a leafless Lily Magnolia tree (aka as Tulip Magnolia or Tulip Tree) that Robert and I saw and marveled at yesterday.

Sometimes you just gotta go it alone.

4. Daughter Amy expanding her Savannah-based medical company across the Savannah River and over into nearby (and beautiful) Bluffton, South Carolina.

HR and I drove over for the ribbon cutting yesterday morn.

Robert and I made it at the very end into the little local news coverage …

The paparazzi will simply not leave me alone.

https://share.google/oQybdqM9iBeJARSbc

5. Robert and some hay.

May you sit in front of a joyful weekend ahead.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 10/10/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. The beauty and importance of FIRE.

The other evening at Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah

2. Reaching 1400 days of meditation (not all in a row!) using the 10% Happier app.

Wouldn’t you think I’d have it a little more together by now?!

3. My toes! Wiggle yours real quick and give them a little “Thanks”.

4. A cute little fellow I saw the other morning just outside our front door.

Look harder!

5. Heading up to Atlanta this morning for Atlanta Pride 2025 over the weekend.

This year’s theme, “Rooted in Resistance,” honors what festival organizers say is the layered history of the LGBTQ+ movement, “acknowledging the foundational acts of defiance and courage that have paved the way for current advancements.” wabe.org

HR and me, 2023

“From Stonewall to the present day, we have continually stood firm in the face of adversity, demanding our rights and celebrating our identities,” said Chris McCain, executive director of Atlanta Pride, in a June press release. “This theme is a call to remember our past, acknowledge our ongoing struggles, and empower every individual to contribute to a future where all LGBTQ+ people can thrive, free from fear and prejudice.” wabe.org

New York Pride, 2016

What is something you’re very proud about?

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 10/3/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. A reminder of childhood as I walked through Savannah‘s Ardsley Park neighborhood.

2. The joy of grandchildren this week.

Madison (blonde, lower right) singing a duet at a school choral event.

Gabriel getting his driver’s license.

3. Putting my head on my pillow in my bed each night. And realizing what a tremendous blessing that simple act really is.

4. Seeing this silly little whatever-it-is in a bathroom. 

5. Getting a HUGE flower arrangement after having some minimally invasive back surgery recently. 

May you have a Huge Blossom of Happiness this weekend.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 9/26/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. This lovely little harbinger of serenity who peacefully greets me each time I walk into our bathroom.

No, no, not the patriotic wise owl on the top shelf. Look closer, down in the lower left.

In light and shadow, she welcomes me.

(But I’m trying to get her a better working environment.)

2. My beautifully shirted HR and this amazing cinnamon roll we had the other morning at a new restaurant near us, The Municipal Bar, inside a new hotel, The Municipal, which is a gorgeous revamp of an old city building where we used to pay our water bill. TMI?

3. The ability to taste. Isn’t that sense just absolutely amazing?!

4. Experiencing the Fall season, even inside the house. Here’s our pretty mature fiddle leaf fig.

She has been shedding a few leaves lately—but then again, haven’t we all?

For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to simply throw the leaves away.

So I looked around and plopped them in our little wall vase.

And actually found them quite beautiful in their color-changing Autumnal phase.

Look at the chlorophyll saying goodbye.

Robert (so very helpfully) reminded me recently that I too am in my Fall/Autumn Phase.

After I started speaking to him again, I thought about it and decided to hope that my chlorophyll stays bright and green for a while longer.

5. Getting successfully through an intracept procedure earlier this week (a type of back surgery, which hopefully will help my lower back pain).

I got to keep the hat. 

Is it legal for HR to take photos in a surgery center? I would have yelled at him, but I was a bit out of it.

(More about THAT entire experience in an upcoming post.)

May you have some non-surgical fun this weekend.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 9/12/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Glorious early morning sunlight on grass.

Greene Square near me.

2. Beginning to see a few (emphasis on “few”) early indications of Approaching Autumn here in Savannah.

3. The simply amazing Ability to Walk! What a blessing. The next time you walk today (if you can), shout (or think loudly), “Look at me! I am WALKING!”

4. The beautiful opposite of Happy Bringer #1 above …

… evening sunset.

5. Watermelon with a mouth.

Happy Weekend!