Palms
Tag: Joy
My Saturday Evening Post 4/1/23 “Never More”
I recently finished the book Anxious People. And I love this bittersweet bit of dialogue about holding hands with our little ones.
“Have you ever held a three-year-old by the hand on the way home from preschool?“
“No.”
“You’re never more important than you are then.“
What truth!
Five Friday Happy Bringers 3/31/23
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Finishing with Robert perhaps one of the top three novels we’ve read together in the last ten years …
Oh my goodness, it’s hilarious, heartwarming, heartbreaking, a mystery, a treatise on our economy and banking system, a love story/love stories, an examination of the inevitably difficult dynamics of family. And a book FULL of surprises. I did not want it to end. I miss the characters. I highly recommend it!
What a joy to read a good book.
2. The 2023 Savannah Music Festival.
What a treat! Last night Robert and I went to a bluegrass event with incredible banjoes, fiddles and guitars.
(Just so you know, I played trombone in high school. Okay, I was 3rd chair. And I really never managed to march on the football field and play my instrument at the same time. But still.)
3. Air. Oxygen. Breath.
4. HR finally learning how to photograph me now that I’m 71.
5. This morning walking past my favorite old Savannah mansion which faces Forsyth Park.
May your weekend’s peace and joy be of mansion proportions.
“You”
So HR and I went to a new little cafe near us for lunch today.
It was raining, so we went inside.
Delicious sandwiches
But what warmed my heart the most was the little sign as we entered …
I’M SPECIAL!
YOU ARE TOO!
My Saturday Evening Post: 3/25/23 “Salut!”
This morning Greene Square near us here in Historic District Savannah hosted the annual Spring Equinox Brunch. Glorious!
Oh my gosh. Such springtime fun as we proclaimed a hearty “Salut!” to Spring 2023.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 3/24/23
1. Good quality blue cheese.
2. Finding beauty—even in a pollen-encrusted pond.
3. The amazing and usually taken-for-granted ability to go to a grocery store and buy food. What a privilege and joy!
4. Grandson Daniel running into one of his Savannah buddies in Manhattan last week when he was taking a prospective NYU student tour.
5. Speaking of buddies, here are our Travel Buddies.
Wait, I haven’t told you about them?! Three little stuffed animals that Robert and I have given to each other over the years. And they go with us on every one of our adventures.
May your weekend ahead be filled with adventure.
2023 Escape from St. Patrick’s Day #4
My daily snapshot of Robert’s and my 2023 trip to get away from Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and celebrations.
It is a rainy and cool St. Patrick’s Day here in Atlanta on day four of our little trek to get away from Savannah.
So we have enjoyed “indoor.” A workout at the Y and a hot tub soak. A little shopping. And now a lazy afternoon snuggled on the couch.
So resting comfortably, I send this blessing out to you all.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 3/17/23
1. Being able to say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” away from Savannah’s craziness today.
2. One of our local colleges, SCAD—the Savannah College of Art and Design—making the big time in Hollywood.
I taught international students at SCAD as an adjunct after retiring from full time college teaching.
3. The unexpected joy when I find a little nook and cranny in Savannah’s historic district which I had never seen before.
4. Our sense of touch. It is raining where we are in Atlanta at the moment, and I’m so thankful to be able to feel the drops on my face and hands as we dash out of our car running around the city.
5. Grilled peaches.
May you have a peachy weekend ahead.
“The Artful Dodger“ #17
A blog category about finding “art” in unexpected places and situations.
A little while ago, Robert and I were leaving our favorite little Atlanta breakfast place, Homegrown.
Walking toward the car, I heard them before I saw them. Detective-like, I quickly turned around.
They were casually (and somewhat seductively) leaning against the back shed of the little hole-in-the- wall jewel of a restaurant, singing, belting their hearts and souls out.
The Seven Sisters singing their way through The Great American Songbook.
I could’ve stayed there all day, reveling in the joy, the pathos, the excitement, the disappointment, the yearning fullness of their song.
They were us all—EveryWoman, EveryMan—leaning back and leaning into life. Our days, months, and years filled with living the truth of their diverse songs.
But HR finally made me get in the car.
“Neal, other people need to park.”
“And hear,” I thought.
So we made our way back to our midtown Airbnb, but not without the Sisters’ melodies still ringing in my ears and heart.
As we pulled up to our Airbnb, the most amazing thing REALLY HAPPENED, raising goosebumps on my skin. A young lady in a pick-up parked near us. When she opened her door, Robert and I heard her before we saw her—-singing joyfully. She made her way into the other half of the duplex that makes up our Airbnb. She continued to sing as she turned on the vacuum cleaner. Vocal joy. It actually felt a little quietly empty when she got in her truck and drove away.
