And the oft-forgotten mindfulness of the inhale and the exhale.
4. The Breath of Fresh Air Robert and I are experiencing with the television reality series, “Love on the Spectrum.”
“Overview: Seven adults with autism dive headlong into a dating group to explore the unpredictable world of romance, tackling misconceptions about both themselves and how they want to live.” (Series Website)
We recently stumbled upon season two and are working through it now.
5. Playing hide and seek with a Japanese Flowering Cherry tree near us here in historic district Savannah.
May you experience a Bit of Play somehow this spring weekend.
Does anybody else take photos while you’re waiting in the exam room when you go to see the doctor?
No? Really? Why not?
Is this against HIPPA rules or something?
Well, this morning brought my yearly appointment at my ophthalmologist. Since it’s a new year, I’ve been making my rounds to various specialists. Haven’t you?
For some reason (reminder: talk to therapist about this), while I am waiting for the doctor—any doctor— to make her/his appearance, I get all giddy nervous and therefore anxiously try to figure out how to pass the time before she/he enters and aggressively takes my blood pressure or sticks a needle in me.
The answer? Intra-medical-office photography!
My eyes have just been dilated, so I can’t really see you.
And I can’t quite figure out how to interpret this writing on yonder wall …
Huh?
“E.T. Phone home” maybe?
I’ll probably be getting a new eyeglass prescription.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day eve, and as Robert and I have done the last five or six years, we hightail it out of Dodge (well, Savannah).
“Why,” you may be asking. “Doesn’t Savannah have one of the nation’s largest and most celebrated St. Patrick’s Day bashes/parades?”
Yes, it does. And we have enjoyed them in the past.
But here comes the rub. I moved to Savannah back in 2009, as I was semi-retiring from Georgia Southern University (about an hour north of SAV). I have lived in two Savannah locations , and (incredibly) BOTH were directly on the parade route, which initially sounded great. And I suppose initially it was.
But as the years went by, I began to see aspects of the parade’s insanity. Don’t get me wrong, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations can be so much fun and meaningful: the Greening of the Fountains, the Celtic Cross Ceremony in Emmet Park, the Jasper Green Ceremony in Madison Square, etc.
Savannah’s population is around 150.000, and the parade usually draws at least that many more visitors. And living on the parade route, we have witnessed disappointing human behavior outside our door. Our potted plants being trampled, thrown and broken on the pavement, even urinated upon. (TMI?). Partiers loudly camping outside our door all night the night before the parade.
So anyway, we drove an hour or so south of us to St. Simons Island to a quaint little retro motel (not hotel). Queen’s Court Inn:
We are currently high-energetically super-celebrating St. Patty Eve.
My helpers:
And Robert’s:
It’s deliciously quiet here. And raining softly outside.
As I mentioned in Friday’s post, Robert and I drove up to Macon, GA, a couple of hours north of Savannah, and checked into a very cool and quirky Airbnb.
The purpose of our trip was to pick up our prizes for participating in the 2024 Georgia Farm Passport program.
But back to a few interesting features of our Airbnb.
First, look at its frig!
Guests leave notes about their stay.
And when you walk into the living room, you see this:
A simple set of stairs.
Or are they?
And I loved the old trees with Spanish moss in front of the Southern mansion (which had been divided into units for apartments and Airbnb rentals).
I found a description of the trees taped on one of the living room walls:
“The elegant specimen trees out front are Deodar Cedars. Deodar derives from Sanskrit that translates to “timber of the gods.” The tree is native to the Himalayas, where it has been known to reach 250′ tall. It was introduced to Europe in 1822 and to the United States nine years later. This tree is sacred in Hinduism. It produces rose-shaped cones and aromatic oil that naturally deters insects.”
I gathered some of the cones. They really do look like brown roses.
NealEnJoy 