Sunday, January 03, 2016

The week's round-up

Welcome to the New Year!  I arrived back in Savannah in time to watch Michigan State drown in a red tide at the Cotton Bowl, a spectacle that hasn’t been seen since Pharaoh’s army chased Moses and the Hebrew people through the Red Sea.  Undersea warfare would not be perfected until the beginning of the 20th Century, something Pharaoh became painfully aware of, even though the Confederacy did sink a Yankee ship with the Huntley in Charleston harbor.   The past few days back in Savannah have been filled with excited things like cleaning out and painting a quarter of the garage (this will be done in stages), sailing, answering fire calls (although I missed a real fire due to work), and a return to my regular job…  My only real gripe was the faulty fire alarm that went off in a house where no one was home at 5:45 AM on New Year's Day!  Really?  But a faithful group of red-eyed volunteers showed up and checked it out and made sure there was no fire before heading back to bed.

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I enjoyed my time in the Old North State, even though many of my hours were spent working in my parents yard.  My daughter and I drove up the day after Christmas (she has always been fun to travel with, but it's even nicer now that she can drive!).   I got to see both of my parents often, who were living at different wings of a skilled nursing facility: my dad in rehab and my mom in the regular wing.  I also got to see my siblings and spent an afternoon on a boat with my brother, wearing shorts which seems odd in late-December.  We even got in and out of the boat on Masonboro Island without boots, for the water was still warm.  Watching folks do the “polar plunge here in Georgia where the water temperature is still warmer than Lake Michigan in August was a bit of a joke.  But even in Michigan, where they normally have to cut holes in the ice on Gun Lake with a chainsaw for the polar plunge, there was no ice.  Weird weather we’re having.

After spending time at my parents, my daughter and I headed across the state to visit my uncle and my grandmother.  Along the way, we stopped in Raleigh to visit Judy (her original blog was Kenju, now she blogs at Just Ask Judy) one of my longtime blogger friends.  We spent an enjoyable hour and a half talking to Judy and Mr. Kenju about many things including Georgetown basketball (Mr. Kenju played for Georgetown in the early 1960s).  Judy is a talented florist and you may have remembered my admiration of her posts about decorating the governor's mansion in Raleigh.)  I would have enjoyed staying longer, but we still had a long drive in the rain to get to Hickory, so we bid them farewell and continued to drive into the sunset (which was well concealed behind the clouds).   And that, my friends, was my last week in a nutshell. 

I hope you are enjoying your New Year!
Heading back after yesterday's races
Winter sailing without foul-weather gear!

27 comments:

  1. Thankfully, the weather for this holiday weekend actually felt like winter, at least for South Carolina. It was close to 80 degrees Christmas Day and that was just a serious bummer.

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    1. I spent Christmas afternoon walking on the beach! It was crowded for December.

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  2. Sounds like you had nice travels. Yes, very weird weather indeed. Over 80 degrees here in NC Christmas week and people hit the beach. I'm glad things have cooled off.

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    1. I was up in your direction the day after Christmas. On Sunday, the 27th, was riding around in my brothers boat wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops!

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  3. Lake Michigan is brutal year-round! Sounds like you got a good start on the new year.

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    1. But it's warm compared to Lake Superior (which is my favorite of the Great Lakes)

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  4. Happy New Year! I'm glad you were able to visit with your family and your blogging friend.

    I'm looking forward to reading about your 2016 adventures. :)

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    1. Thanks, and I hope to read about a few of your adventures, too, Chrys.

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  5. Happy New Year! I'm glad you were able to visit with your family and your blogging friend.

    I'm looking forward to reading about your 2016 adventures. :)

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  6. I watched the game with a house full of Roll Tide screaming fans, so I guess I was on the other side of the coin. I made the mistake of calling them Spartans and thought I was going to get lynched.

    I spent the entire week between Christmas and New Years on the coast and without a coat. I was really glad I through in an extra pair of shorts at the last minute.

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    1. Red tide always mean that shellfish was suspect--it is amazing how Alabama made it into a badge of honor.

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  7. Glad you got in some good visiting. Hope your new year goes wonderfully.

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    1. And my you have a wonderful new year, Charles.

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  8. I loved your mention of the Pharaoh in connection with Michigan State's game or non-game. Sorry.

    But you had a great trip with your daughter. That's special. Here's to a fabulous 2016.

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    1. Non-game is an good description--especially after that ending of the first half when MSU just gave up.

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  9. Sounds like you had a good time and it's always nice to be able to visit with family.

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  10. Curious about Mr. Kenju. I am a Hoya fan for life. In the early '60s he would have crossed paths with a future NFL commissioner.

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  11. You know I'm a Michigander and the Spartans are my fave Michigan team, (one of cousins now living in Tenn.) graduated at Michigan State (he's surely still their greatest fan! well he's still feeling the blues of that game. Sounds like you had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends!

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  12. Happy New Year! Sounds like your year is off to a good start, even if your team kinda let you down. I'm a Falcons fan, so need I say more? (sigh)

    We spent Christmas in Alabama with one of our sons and his family, and it was 81 very wet degrees. We saw the new year in with friends in Tennessee, and it was warmer there than usual, too, but the cold finally came into their neck of the mountains. We even saw a few snowflakes there this morning before we headed back home to Georgia. Our cats were so glad to see us, they didn't even pretend not to care. :)

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  13. Sounds like a good kind of busy, and a rich way to start 2016.

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  14. Happy New Year. I'm glad you got in family and fun time. I love that about the holidays.

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  15. I saw the article about the people doing the polar plunge in Georgia. I laughed, too. What a joke!

    Sorry about your fire alarm. You probably saw on FB that I had one of those going off at the music school where I teach. At least you weren't there to hear it!

    Have a wonderful new year!

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  16. Love the comparison of the Tide to the Red Sea. :) Sounds so nice - your last several days.

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  17. Happy New Year, glad you enjoyed time with your family

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  18. Happy New Year, Sage and glad your trip worked out nicely! All best to you and your family in 2016! :)

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  19. Happy New Year. Great post and awesome that your trip was good.

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  20. It sounds like you've been really busy getting things done and spending time with family. Sounds like a great way to start 2016. Have a great week!

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