Both moaning and marveling a bit this Monday.
Robert and I are grandson-, doggie- and house-sitting for Daughter Amy and Scott while they take Grandson Daniel off to his freshman year of college.
One of the duties is taking Coastal for walks.
And even though it’s less than a month from the beginning of fall, it’s still HOT here in Savannah — 88 with a real feel of 96 this afternoon.
So here I am walking Coastal this afternoon – Senior Citizen Edition.
Afterwards …
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. To show you (yet again) that it doesn’t take very much to make me happy, I was thrilled (maybe with a small “t” but still thrilled) seeing these neat “tissues don’t have to be in a rectangular or square box” Kleenex in the bathroom at my therapist’s office. TMI?
2. Sort of related (at least in color) to Happiness Bringer #1 above, the first day of Autumn 2025 is one month from today!
Of course it’s 90° with a Real Feel near 100 today in Savannah, but at least we can dream/remember …
3. Robert and I took part in the Savannah Photo Club’s Third Sunday Photo Walk last Sunday morn. Such fun!
For two hours we traversed around Savannah’s Historic District, snapping pictures left and right.
We plan to make the Savannah Photo Walk part of our monthly agenda.
4. After the photo walk, we toured the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Museum of Art display, A Gathering of Bells.
Upon entry, you were giving a white glove for your dominant hand, so that you could ring the clappers in the bells!
“As museum visitors strike the clapper against the shell, their action becomes participation and metaphor simultaneously: we hear the ringing bell vibrate and sense how our gestures reverberate outward toward others.”
Such a unique sculpture display/experience.
5. The pleasure of a simple little nap.
SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Museum of Art
Grandson Matthew’s new puppies. Uh, can you tell which one is the runt of the litter?
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Green beans.
2. This cute little doggie store on my morning walk.
3. The amazing ability to remember. What a gift.
4. What we need more of:
5. Robert’s love of fancy coffee … that’s not in a paper cup.
Starbucks this morning.
What’s on your Happiness List today?
A few weeks ago, as HR and I were pursuing the aisles at the grocery store, I spotted up on a shelf, high above the more popular eye-level products, an item that quickly hurled me back through the decades into my childhood—potato sticks!
This yummy (and of course highly processed) treat often found its way into my lunches back in the late 1950’s and 60’s. (Am I really that old?)
I have four brothers. And potato sticks were cheap. But I loved them … a culinary delicacy! (I’m from VERY rural North Georgia.)
Or maybe I’m just reminiscing that I loved them, when in reality I’m nostalgically mixing up potato sticks with the concept of home, Mama and an “everything-is-right-in-the-world” yesteryear cosmovision.
I asked Robert if he remembered them.
“Yes, of course,” he answered, but with his eyes more focused on fancy Utz Chips and Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels ($7.99 a bag, seriously?) I wondered if he really did.
There’s nothing fancy about potato sticks. They are probably rejects from potato chip manufacturing who find their way, smashed, second level, into poor little matchstick-like treats for very rural, backward children who consider them delicacies.
Back at Kroger, I tiptoed up and up and managed to reach them, handling them oh so carefully as I sauntered back down to earth and positioned my old friends like little senior citizens in our buggy. I invited them home.
At the lunch table, a bit nervous, the sticks chose to sit beside another childhood staple, the utilitarian, everyman hot dog.
What a joy it was to reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in decades. We sat there, enjoying each other’s company, until they slowly disappeared into my … consciousness.
The only difference was the packaging. They’re now sold in more modern bags instead of yesterday’s cardboard canisters.
But then again, my packaging has changed pretty significantly over the years as well.
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Stone fruit still life.
And what Robert made with it …
Clafoutis.
“Clafoutis is a French dessert made with fruit covered in a batter that consists of eggs, sugar, milk, and flour. It’s a thick custard that is similar to flan in texture. It is usually made with cherries, but other fruits can be used as well.” prettysimplesweet.com
Oh my goodness! It was wonderful.
2. Grandson Daniel, singing “Come What May” (from Moulin Rouge) with his girlfriend Amalie at a recent concert. Daniel’s last Savannah performance before his freshman year of college.
3. Realizing that every minute is a new beginning.
4. HR and purple.
5. Seeing this on my walk this morning. And realizing that it is a truth that life finds a way.
Even if we are not always happy about that outcome.
May you be happy about the outcome of this weekend ahead!
NealEnJoy 