Photography – NealEnJoy

Rainbow Joy

Posted on August 23, 2015August 23, 2015 by Neal Saye

Last evening I went to a fun but bittersweet farewell party for good buddy Ellie Covington (who is Texas-bound, Galveston).

After a torrential downfall forced the party onto the carport, the late-stayers ventured out onto the dock by the marsh and saw this …

(Do you see the second one to the right?)

Of course, we all had to get a little silly.

I quickly texted the pic to my fam and got this response from daughter Emily (mother of grandtwins Madison and Mathew) from the other side of Savannah:

“We can hold it too!”

The joyful promise of a rainbow!

May the excitement and happiness of children be with us all, especially Ellie as she makes her move to the next successful stage of her life!

Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers — 5/22/15

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Neal Saye

MAY — an incredibly joyful month, don’t you think?

Five Reasons for Happy:

1. An early morning walk along the McQueens-Tybee Island trail (between Savannah and Tybee Island–10 mins from my apartment).

2. Grandson Daniel in his end-of-year Who Am I? Research Biography presentation. (He was Paul McCartney, btw.)

(Okay. okay, maybe I helped him a little with the tri-board.)

(He could only get such coolness from his grandfather. Seriously.)

The kids had to explain their research, poster-board-presentation-style, to the folks in attendance.

They do that kinda stuff nowadays in 2nd Grade?! Research?! All I did in 2nd grade was spend a year of trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to stop crying for mama.

3. Being a judge for the 2015 Savannah Authors Anthology. Such fun!

(I want to be a judge … full time. And get paid. Exorbitantly. Call me if you or yours need high-end judging.)

4. Getting 2015 Beach Ready.

5. Seafood at Safe Harbor in Mayport, FL. (After taking the ferry across the St. John’s River on the south end of Amelia Island.)

Safe, Joyful Weekend ahead to you all!

College Teaching

The Smile — and Happiness Shared

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Neal Saye

The students in my English 123 (Freshman Composition) classes at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) are doing what I call Visual Essays in this, their next-to-the-last week of Fall Quarter 2014. We read two books this term, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Tal Ben-Shahar’s Happier, both relating to our course theme of “Happiness and the Exploration of Joy.” The Visual Essay project invites the students to MAKE, rather than write, their papers. Traditional essay requirements are still required: a focus and thesis, structure, detail and support, etc. But this essay morphs into a drawing or painting, a sculpture, a collage, a video, a food, etc. Basically this project is a visual representation of one topic narrowed into a clear thesis/perspective/idea. The challenge: how to “show” their thesis.

Debora Jacob (from Brazil) went to Forsyth Park here in Savannah last Saturday. Here’s her Visual Essay titled “Happiness Shared” on the topic of the smile and its significance.

Thanks for the encouragement, Debora.

Let’s all SMILE more often.