Life experiences – Page 32

“These Vagabond Shoes” #3

Posted on July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Neal Saye

Daily nerdy notes on our New York getaway.

I’m very picky about my coffee, basically thinking that all coffee EXCEPT DUNKIN’ DONUTS tastes like black ashes in hot water. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I discovered the cute little, gay-owned coffee shop, Kahve in Hell’s Kitchen close to our hotel.

The coffee was delicious!

Robert and I signed up for a Gay Pride Tour here in New York. We were to meet at Christopher Park in Greenwich Village near the iconic Stonewall Inn (arguably the birthplace of the gay rights movement).

We arrived a bit early. Stood in the tiny park for a while. Then heard two loud explosions and saw black smoke billowing from the apartment building next to the Stonewall!

We watched as the frazzled residents were rushed out of the building, and the fire engines loudly arrived.

Well, this is New York, so our plucky guide Joe went on with the tour for HR, a handful of friendly folks from the UK and me.

Thankfully the fire was extinguished, and the firemen put away the hoses.

What a smokin’ tour!

Well, the tour and the fire left us hungry and thirsty. so we headed to Julius, New York’s oldest gay bar, for incredible burgers and a pint.

Julius was the site of the “Sip-ins” of the 1960’s, fashioned after the Sit-ins of the Civil Rights movement. Gay folks went to bars, said they were homosexuals and were refused service, leading to widespread awareness of LGBTQ discrimination-and eventual changes in the laws.

What a fiery gay day we had!

These Vagabond Shoes

“These Vagabond Shoes”

Posted on July 2, 2022July 3, 2022 by Neal Saye

Daily nerdy notes on our New York getaway.

Robert and I are in Manhattan for a few days. But before that, we were all cool and hip up in the Catskills seeing grandson Daniel in his drama camp closing show …

Such fun!

Now we’re in Manhattan, pretending to be cosmopolitan and citified, and not provincial Savannahians. But having such trouble because I forgot to just pack all black chic clothing for both of us.

And I bought HR a horse!

More later.

I’m sure you’re holding your breath!

Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 6/24/22

Posted on June 24, 2022June 24, 2022 by Neal Saye

1. Air conditioning! What a blessing.

2. Enjoying Pride month in our humble abode.

3. The ability to read and write.

4. Daughter Emily giving me this old picture she found at a yard sale. It’s special because we had the same one hanging above our fireplace while she was growing up.

5. Having eyes which can embrace truth. Even difficult truth.

May your eyes see a joyful weekend ahead.

Family

Boastal

Posted on June 20, 2022June 20, 2022 by Neal Saye

Grandson Daniel, who you may remember just finished a run as Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” here in Savannah, is at a three-week drama camp.

I have been sending him silly cards of encouragement. Here is my latest. In order to understand it, you must know that the family dog is named Coastal. (We live in Savannah, next to the Atlantic Ocean, and my daughter’s medical company is called Coastal Care Partners.)

Puppy dog Coastal …

And here’s the card …

Grandfatherly Fun!

Savannah

Seriously?

Posted on June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 by Neal Saye

Hot Savannah!

116 degrees?!

************

And climate change is a leftist myth. Or as my state’s insane and anti-democracy Marjorie Taylor Greene explains,

May the heat silence her voice.

And may tomorrow be cooler in Savannah!

Throwback Thursday, Neal’s Post from the Past

Neal’s Post from the Past: “Oh Possum! (Warning: A Bit Gross)”

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Neal Saye

Here’s a silly post from back in 2013 about an encounter with an unfortunately deceased possum.

************

So Tuesday I picked up grandson Daniel …

…at soccer camp and headed back to his house. Traversing up the driveway, discussing Skylander Giants, we both saw this at about the same time:

A small, dead, open-eyed possum in the neatly manicured front lawn. “Look, Abu! A big rat!” Daniel yelled, as he excitedly unbuckled his seat belt, careening toward the thing.

“I think it’s a possum, Daniel, and I also think he’s dead.” (WHY do I use verbs like “think” in times like this? The possum was dead as a doornail with bugs swarming around its head.)

“That means he’s not breathing,” Daniel explained to me.

“Why don’t you go in the house and cool off, while I get rid of our friend?”

“NO!” Daniel screamed. “We have to show it to Mommy!”

“Well, he can stay here for a few minutes.” (Like the possum was going somewhere.)

At about that time, Olivia and Larkin, the cute twins from next door, came running into the driveway, straight from a pool party. And of course, Daniel had to show them …

… explaining that the “rat, I mean possum, was dead and couldn’t move, so don’t touch it till Mommy comes home because we are going to show it to her.”

Her expression says it all.

(Touch it?!)

One-Word Wednesday

One-Word Wednesday: 6/8/22

Posted on June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 by Neal Saye

“Glorious”

Just outside our hotel yesterday in Charleston, SC

Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling?

Posted on May 30, 2022May 30, 2022 by Neal Saye

Marveling this morning at the joy and many moods of PURPLE.

Grandson Daniel and his voice coach Paul, after one of D’s recent performances as Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” here in Savannah.

“All the other colors are just colors, but purple seems to have a soul – when you look at it, it’s looking back at you.” Uniek Swain

Friendship

The Architecture of Friendship

Posted on May 20, 2022May 20, 2022 by Neal Saye

The other evening Robert and I were out and about here in Historic District Savannah when we happened upon a young couple. Strangers. The young man was perched on the sidewalk, photographing the striking statuary in the front courtyard of The Telfair Museum when we walked by.

He started up a conversation by showing us his terrific black and white pics. We hit it off immediately and went to World of Beer where we enjoyed a couple of hours of newfound camaraderie, discovering a truckload of common interests and concerns. Great fun.

As we were finally saying our goodbyes, the young man suggested that he take a picture of our feet together. I cherish out-of the-blue ideas like that!

We all loved the result. And we appreciated the truth of the young man’s closing comment: “Now we’re all in the stream together.”

************

About Standing (in Kinship)

We all have the same little bones in our feet
twenty-six with funny names like navicular.
Together they build something strong—
our foot arch a pyramid holding us up.
The bones don’t get casts when they break.
We tape them—one phalange to its neighbor for support.
(Other things like sorrow work that way, too—
find healing in the leaning, the closeness.)
Our feet have one quarter of all the bones in our body.
Maybe we should give more honor to feet
and to all those tiny but blessed cogs in the world—
communities, the forgotten architecture of friendship.

— Kimberly Blaeser