I'm out of sorts today. There's no explanation for why. Just feeling blue.

I tried all my usual tricks for feeling better — Zevon, Coke Zero, a magazine. Still disconsolate.

So I turned on all the Christmas lights and read a little bit more. Then I realized there was still an unused string of lights I hadn't put up yet: Bumbles! I recognize the true meaning of Christmas with Nativity scenes and Advent calendars. But I also have a few items from "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

So now I have Bumbles all around my bathroom mirror. So I will have a little Bumbles glow tonight as I get ready for bed, and tomorrow as I get ready for work.

And compared to Bumbles, I look good. All better.

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who still guides us on to the end of our days.

Most years spent exploring, this one spent restoring
Old ties with good friends for long visits and chats
Some cousins, some classmates, two weddings that were great
With one bride a girl whom I had babysat.

Still loving my own place, still running the rat race
Now part of a carpool that starts before dawn
Enjoying my labors, enjoying my neighbors
Despite suburbs’ ongoing drama of lawn.

Much time at the airport, for music and for sports,
So much awesome travel! Sea to shining sea!
Atlantic, Pacific, both truly terrific
But sometimes back home is where I like to be.

One night in Peoria: a special euphoria
Was found on the street where I spent early life
And as in times olden, the western sky golden,
The sweet sound of church bells to beckon the night.

So deeply familiar, so timeless and so pure
To know that these blessings are still in the air!
The people I love best (and yes, even the rest)
Remain near that street. May they always be there.

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator sing out so He’ll hear
Thanks for the time just past, my stars, did it go fast!
Here’s wishing you all good in the coming year. 

How many Thanksgiving hymns did you sing this year? Probably zero, unless you were in church on the Sunday before Turkey Day. That's really the only time these great songs see the light of day.

Actually, in my life, this year I heard Christmas carols before Thanksgiving, which I found so irritating. I wish Thanksgiving as a whole lasted 3x longer than it does, and Christmas lasted one-tenth the time of the bloated commercial season. But we can't always get what we want.

All that's within my control is to celebrate Thanksgiving as much as I can, and that means expressing my thankfulness through the words of Thanksgiving hymns. As last year I made some additions, I have altered the original words a bit. I guess this makes me the "Weird Al" Yankovic of Thanksgiving hymns.

Here's my Thanksgiving hymn for 2010. I would need many more stanzas to include all the blessings in my life, but I hope this gets the general point across!  

P.S. If you want to hear the original, which is based on the tune of "The Ash Grove," you can hear it here.

Where has the year gone? It's been a great one. Really, the whole of 2010 has been fantastic but especially since the last week of September, it's been exceptional:

Great weather, great friends, great new adventures and great old connections.

Best. October. Ever. and November is quickly following suit. It's been non-stop action and I hope to tell it, but for now I'm just going to show it!

Weekend of Sept. 25 — Former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class in Plains, GA

 

Continue reading “tempus fugit” →

SAVANNAH – About 15 years ago I visited Savannah for the first time and I fell in love with a giant house on Orleans Square. With enormous columns on the front, a sloping mansard roof, and taking up almost an entire city block, it was a regal place.

It was obviously vacant, and well-gated, with a small plaque that indicated it was owned by the Society of the Cincinnati. I looked that up and found out that society was for descendants of George Washington's staff, which seemed pretty elite and almost secret, and there wasn't too much information other than that. I asked around Savannah for some information but didn't get too far.

I really wanted to get inside that house. But that seemed very unlikely. So I just stopped by every time I went to Savannah, and took pictures of the ornamental iron, the arc of the front stairs and the garden gate. I honestly have taken the same pictures for the last 15 years.

The weekend before I moved to Northern Ireland in 2008, I went to Savannah. And I went to Orleans Square to see "my house." I was stunned to see a sign for tours.

Tours! And I was leaving the country in 4 days.

Continue reading “dream a little dream” →

SAVANNAH – Paula Deen’s restaurant, Lady & Sons, is  located on Congress Street, but that wasn’t our destination for tonight’s dinner. We debated a couple options (there’s an app for that) and decided to cast our lot with Garibaldi’s, a bit further down Congress Street.

Garibaldi’s has a Charleston location too, and the pair are sister restaurants with Anson there, which scores high in my book. We had a small table toward the back of the restaurant and were getting settled in when three older gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) were seated at a 4-top next to us. We guessed they had spent most of the afternoon on the golf course and probably were feeling no pain.

My poached pear salad, a red snapper filet, and risotto were lovely.  EMH also gave her meal good marks, but she was distracted by the shenanigans going on at the next table.

Continue reading “floor show” →

All the shims, spit and positive mental energy in the world were not going to help the entertainment center. It didn't fare well in the move(s) and, upon arrival in Georgia, listed to one side. It looked sad and out-of-place.

Let's face it. I have never had good luck with entertainment centers.

Who needs an entertainment center anyway? I need more bookshelves. So in preparation for a new "media shelving and storage unit," to be delivered next week, the current specimen had to go. It's 5 feet long and a beast to move. The carpool was consulted and they had one work: Craigslist.

Continue reading “craigslist nation” →

I really like the guy who cuts my hair. I keep trying to persuade him to come by my home each day to style my hair, because it looks so amazing when he does it, but apparently that is outside the scope of his service.

[My FB friends will know that about six weeks ago I had an unfortunate mullet incident after visiting him, which was a complete aberration, and he corrected it as soon as I could get another appointment. Tonight there was a brief period where I was afraid that I might walk out looking like Kicking Bird from "Dancing With Wolves," but apparently that was just a phase on the way to the awesome final style.]

The thing I like best about Carlo, however, is that we have the most wonderful conversations. I am always surprised at what I learn during our discussions. So far topics have included, but have not been limited to, the training of a Weimaraner; the requirements of entrance into, and benefits of vacationing in, Costa Rica; and the mechanics of a spin class.

Tonight he was asking me about my recent activities, and I reported that I recently attended Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class. "Jimmy Carter," he said, "is the reason I came to America."

Really?

Yes, said Carlo. He came from Cuba as part of the Mariel Boat Lift.

Continue reading “marielito” →

I begrudge no one their passions, be they “Star Trek,” knitting, or SEC football.

My particular passion on Saturday was Marshall Crenshaw. As you may recall this was a rare early concert. In fact, it was so early that its start time overlapped with the Alabama-Arkansas game. Here’s an important detail for this story: the bar where Marshall was playing is a flag-waving, full-to-capacity Alabama bar. The worst two words anyone could have said in that place about 6:10 p.m. Saturday would have been “Go Hogs.”

The Marshall Crenshaw contingent was identifiable by our lack of Crimson Tide clothing and, to be honest, our complete disinterest in SEC football. We wanted the staff to open the room where Marshall would be playing, so we could stop huddling under the giant television and escape the anarchy in the room. Who would have thought we needed earplugs before we went into the show?

Continue reading “fantastic planet of marshall crenshaw” →

I enjoy being a party of one, but there are three times during the year when I think, "You know, it would be helpful to have a boyfriend right about now."

(1) New Year's Eve.

(2) Loading my car at Ikea.

(3) Sorting out a problem with service / repair people.

Mapgirl Dark Secret #89: I hate conflict. Hate it. I'd argue with you more about this point, but I really don't want to get into it.

There does come a point, though, where enough is enough. Or, more accurately, not enough is not enough. I just fired off a disgruntled customer letter and my stomach hurts. Why can't it get done right the first time so I don't have to spend more time and effort getting all agitated? It saps all the goodwill and satisfaction out of the experience. I have to rest now.