2. This delightful Father’s Day card I got from kitty cat Benny.
3. Great FIFA Fun as Robert and I joined 68,000 other soccer fans at Atlanta’s FIFA Fan Festival in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, as Spain played (and beat) Saudi Arabia at nearby Atlanta Stadium.
Spain and Saudi Arabia.
4. An incredible Mexican Hot Chocolate at Café Intermezzo in Atlanta.
5. Exploring the absolutely fascinating exhibit of the work of artist Amy Shepard (Michele Obama’s portrait) at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Michelle Obama 
You may remember that Sherald had a controversy at the Smithsonian involving one of her portraits of a trans figure posing as Miss Liberty.
“Amy Sherald, the acclaimed artist known for her official portrait of Michelle Obama, withdrew her retrospective ‘American Sublime’ from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in July 2025. The cancellation came after the museum expressed concerns over her painting Trans Forming Liberty, which depicts a Black transgender woman holding a torch in the pose of the Statue of Liberty.” Google AI
Last week Robert and I spent a few days up in Atlanta and stayed at an Airbnb in a lovely old house facing our favorite park in the city, Piedmont Park.
I was fascinated by the beautiful refrigerator.
It is a Haier brand frig, and fascinating (at least to me), it has modes for sabbath observation for Jewish guests!
“During the Sabbath or Shabbat, and religious holidays in Judaism, there may be restrictions on certain activities that can extend to the use of appliances. Restrictions may include turning appliances on or off, using control panels or activating lights and sounds.
Sabbath Mode enables the operation of household appliances in compliance with certain Jewish laws. When appliances are put into Sabbath Mode, certain features may be modified or disabled to accommodate these religious practices.” whirlpool.com
What Sabbath Mode Disables
Interior Lights: Doors can be opened without turning on lights.
1. A truly wonderful anniversary trip to Atlanta last week. Year 7.
2. Marveling at the AMAZING outdoor lights display at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights.
And Atlanta won the National Championship of outdoor holiday light displays!
3. The Amazing Ability to see!
4. This tree outside our Airbnb in Atlanta.
5. My anniversary cards from HR. (You may recall that Robert has this wacky habit of giving multiple cards on special occasions. Which at first I thought was sort of weird but now love it.)
Robert and I are up in Atlanta for a week celebrating our Seventh Wedding Anniversary.
We’re staying at a very cool Airbnb with a terrific view of the Atlanta skyline from our balcony.
Other than sitting on the balcony, we’ve seen a beautifully moving performance of A Christmas Carol at The Alliance Theatre …
God blessed us everyone!
And The Nutcracker at The Cobb Energy Center …
(Do you think at 71 I’m a bit too old to become a world-famous male ballet dancer?)
For our anniversary dinner, we went to the beautiful Atlanta Fish Market.
Afterwards, I went to the market section of the restaurant and bought HR a good-sized fish for our anniversary—and then had our picture taken in front of it before it was iced and wrapped to be taken home.
Tonight we head to The Atlanta Botanical Garden for their FABULOUS Garden Lights, Holiday Nights outdoor lights display.
1. Getting all cultured, attending the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 Season Finale with incredible first-year-in-Atlanta conductor Nathalie Stutzmann.
“Bolero” was stunningly, movingly beautiful.
2. Fresh farm peaches from Ellijay, GA. Sweet and juicy (sorta like “Bolero”)!
3. Being thankful for my eyesight.
4. Seeing the world premiere of circus-based musical “Water for Elephants” at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. I loved the novel and was uber excited to hear that it was coming out as a play.
5. Celebrating Robert’s birthday (the young upstart) at Truva, a terrific little Turkish restaurant in the hip Virginia Highland neighborhood near Midtown Atlanta.
Yum!
We chose the Mixed Kebabs for two: Chargrilled Adana | Chicken Kebab | Beef Kebab | Shaved Doner | Turkish Style Rice | Grilled Tomatoes.
“Pride Month commemorates years of struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community, as well as the accomplishments of LGBTQ individuals. “ Brittanica
Atlanta Pride
But why in June?
“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots, and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) Americans. In June of 1969, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City staged an uprising to resist the police harassment and persecution to which LGBT Americans were commonly subjected. This uprising marks the beginning of a movement to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices against LGBT Americans.” youth.gov
Jacksonville Pride
Our new Pride Boots …
(Kidding) New York City Pride
May we celebrate and defend “liberty and Justice for all.”
My daily snapshot of Robert’s and my 2023 trip to get away from Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and celebrations.
This Post-St. Patrick’s Day morn, after Robert and I finished our coffee in our little Airbnb, we embarked on a short day trip up to Toccoa, Georgia to take a gander at Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site. We have now visited all 48 of Georgia’s state parks, and all but three of the state historic sites.
“This stagecoach inn and plantation home was built around 1815 by James R. Wyly. He strategically located it along the newly constructed Unicoi Turnpike, a busy highway over the Appalachian Mountains. Wyly operated the inn until 1833 when he sold it to his neighbor Devereaux Jarrett, the “richest man in the Tugaloo Valley.” Jarrett continued to operate the inn, but doubled its size to make it the home place of his 14,400 acre plantation along the Tugaloo River. Three generations of Jarretts inhabited the site until the state of Georgia purchased the remaining few acres of the once-vast plantation for $8,000 in 1955.”georgiastateparks.org
Dynamic docent Billy showed us around and even gave us a suggestion for a local lunch, which we took him up on.
Tonight we’re getting all cultured as we melodically make our way to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Here’s a little something I put together about it:
We’re going to … let the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra transport us into Nature’s realm with the rugged Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius alongside the Overture to Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber. In between, catch the U.S. premiere of a new saxophone concerto, For Wadada Leo Smith (2022), by jazz and classical multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey.
Okay, I lied. I copied all that from the program. And understood very little. But I do plan to be “transported” by it. I’ll tell you if I was in tomorrow’s post. That will give you something to look forward to.
NealEnJoy 