Returned yesterday from a flawlessly wonderful week in Georgia celebrating my mama's 94th birthday with Bob and Jocelyn--and later, Mary Elizabeth and Dot, too--and Carlene's many friends who sent cards, three of whom took us out for dinner on Friday night.  Except for the day we went to Perry, Bob and Jocelyn came over or we met them in Athens at one of our favorite eateries, Bone Island.

One of my daddy's maple trees has one limb already turning red--
so I'm going to want to go back in October to see its full colors.

When I got into my Texas Uber, the sticky heat nearly knocked me down after a week of moderate weather.

I have two new enthusiasms from this trip: (1) Bojangles Biscuits with country ham and (2) vintage typewriters.  The former can not be acquired in Texas, unfortunately, but the latter can--so I'm going to start a search for a manual typewriter for fun--after watching a Tom Hanks documentary, California Typewriters.

Reyes is still here working on the house--painting and fixing--but the yard is looking amazing!  I love having a yard full of river rocks and low-maintenance native plants!   And I am so grateful to Will and Veronica for designing and doing the yard for me!

Nathan says, "School is awful," but of course that's what seventh graders always say.

Elena had her first homework last night for second grade.  "I'm so excited about it!" she said.  Then--
"But I don't think I'm supposed to be."

Day reported that her first week of school--as an academic coach--was "Awesome!"

We all have to have things to be enthusiastic about--whether it's homework, baby flowers, new jobs, biscuits, or typewriters.  Without enthusiasm, we lose our vitality juices.

Dot and Carlene

Such a fun Monday driving Carlene's Malibu to Perry (Middle Georgia where she grew up) to spend the day with her sister Dot!

Dot is holding a counted cross stitch pillow Carlene made for her years ago. 

Dot made us lunch and we spent most of the day talking on her sun porch.  I love listening to the stories they tell together!

Afterwards, Carlene and I drove by their Homeplace--a house not nearly as pretty as it used to be, but I remembered staying with Dot and Mimi and Papa when Bob was born in 1951.  I was three and I mostly remember being fascinated with teenager Dot and the way she rolled her hair.

I also remember Mimi making biscuits and pouring milk out of a pitcher and leaving streaks--mile directly from the cows.

The house used to be white wood, now it's sided over with red.

To the right of the house is a grove of peach trees Papa planted.

We stopped by the Fresh Air barbecue in Jackson on the way home--still the best barbecue anywhere in my opinion.  They've been serving barbecue in the same location since 1929, and it still tastes exactly like it did as I remember it as a child.

Barbecue in Georgia is always pork.

Carlene's 94th Birthday Party

We had a wonderful day--Bob and Jocelyn came over and we had lunch at O'Charley's and then came back and opened presents and had cake and ice cream, both made by Jocelyn.

Opening her presents from Linda Kot

Bob and Carlene

Here's an afghan she's making for Savannah

This morning, Carlene and I took a walk--67 degrees!  Like an early fall day!

Lady-in-Waiting Gets A Move on

A few years ago I hired "landscapers" named, ironically "Successful Trucking and Landscaping" to create an appealing back yard.   Instead, they botched it completely.

     Lesson #1: Don't hire workers whose number you get from a sign.

Four months ago, I began hiring handymen to repair a broken door and other things in my house.  Four men--two competent but unavailable, two clueless. ("Can you do so-and-so?" I ask--and they all say, "Yes, sure!" because they are men and don't want to lose face?)

And so I remained a lady in waiting--waiting for them to work when they promised, waiting for someone who knew what he was doing, waiting to move on to the next thing.  It was frustrating.

     Lesson #2: Ask people you know personally for reliable experts, then ask those experts for dates--and if they don't appear, hire someone else.

I have an excellent plumber named Tony, an excellent electrician, also named Tony.  And I found a solid landscaper, but her plan, while attractive, wasn't going to happen until October.

Last week, Will and Bonnie announced that they would like to do the yard for me!  And this week, it's evolving beautifully,! River rocks and native plants--salvia, crepe myrtle, Blackfoot daisies, Esperanza, and dwarf Euonymus--are now planted.  And to put the cherry on top of the whipped cream, they installed an underground irrigation system.

             

Day Four

Reyes who's doing the work is an all-round expert in landscaping, home repair and remodeling.  I am over-joyed and so grateful to Will and Bonnie for their generosity and to Reyes for knowing how to follow their plans.

In a year or two, these baby plants will be even fatter and happier--like me!

Hangings

If you ever need any pictures or mirrors hung, I have a recommendation:

Denis and Kelley have worked for designers for years and they come together:  210 721 1700

They do excellent work and charge way too little--they hung seven things for me in concrete walls and charged $75 for the 3 hours they were here.  I paid $100 and felt like a bandit.

One piece was 6 by 6 feet.

Kelley also makes custom window treatments.

The Family--Netflix

My Mac has been behaving stickily for some time.  The keyboard doesn't respond as it should, it refuses to space at times, letters triple and double on one key stroke, and words I don't intend to write,  she writes for me.

Since it is the second time it's happened, and maybe because I bought Apple Care, the Mac genius is replacing the entire keyboard for free--a $500 keyboard.  All I have to do is pack up this baby and haul it to North Star Mall and leave her for a few days, then she'll be good as new.

I'm going to call forth my courage and walk out into this heat, get into my car, and take this laptop in hopes that she's ready for a trip in a week or so--as I'll be heading to Georgia to celebrate Carlene's 94th birthday.

I've just started a Netflix series called The Family-- a fascinating look at the ways religion and politics got married in America.

I'll resume watching on another device when I come back from this Apple trip in a car that will say 104 or106 all the way to North Star.

What Makes Young, White Men Subscribe to Extremist Ideologies?

Tony McAleer was a white supremacist who is now working to re-educate those who are still in the movement.  His interview on TPR at noon today will be available at 3:30 online:

https://www.tpr.org/post/what-makes-young-white-men-succumb-extremist-ideologies

McAleer has written a book on the subject and he answered questions in today's interview in an articulate and thought-provoking way.   It was an excellent interview I hope you can all hear.

In the wake of so many tragedies and so much hateful rhetoric from the White House, I found this discussion extremely relevant and interesting.

Improvised Life

If you don't know this site (a treasury of inspiration) you might want to subscribe:

https://www.improvisedlife.com

Leonard and Marianne

Leonard and Marianne is the story of Leonard Cohen and his early love affair with Marianne.

While Leonard believed in free love and open marriage, he wrote music for and loved Marianne all his life.  She went on to marry someone else, but she was given a front-row seat to his "Live in London" concert in 2007, and she was there.

Shortly before her death, Leonard wrote her this letter--then he himself died three months later:

"Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine,   And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road."

If you are a Leonard Cohen fan, as I am, this documentary is worth seeing.  He wrote a poorly-received novel when he and Marianne lived in Greece (Hydra) in the late Sixties, then he began writing poetry.  But we wouldn't know Leonard unless he had (with the encouragement of Judy Collins)  turned to music instead.  His best music was, I think, during his last decade--after he had given up a conventional family life and fidelity to any one woman, taken massive drugs, and then lived in a Buddhist monastery for seven years.

After he left the monastery, he discovered that a trusted woman friend had embezzled all his money, and he was left virtually penniless, but he re-started his career.

At the end of the film, he said something to this effect regarding Marianne and her son:"I left precious people for my education in the world."

Sunday morning

After a summer of too many funky days, today was a really good day.  Will and Bonnie and Elena came and spent the afternoon, and Bonnie gave me some good ideas for landscaping the back yard which desperately needs some love and attention and water.

Day sent me a beautiful journal--she'd made it with Gel Printing and stitching and a circus photograph--Love it!

After they left, I could feel my creative juices coming back.  (Where do creative juices go when a person gets depressed? I wonder.)

So I rearranged my living room and it looks exactly like I wanted it to. (Just yesterday I thought it was a jumble of pieces that didn't go together, but now they do.)  Other plans are afoot, and I'm back in my element and so happy to be!

Sometimes, in houses and in life, there are too many things--or maybe too many obligations and not enough of the things you really want to do.  Moving one thing or getting rid of one chair or lamp that's not right, frees up space for something new to happen.  That's where I am right now at one in the morning, watching the right things moving into place.

William and Mary is streaming again on Amazon--starring Martin Clunes and Julia Graham.  Such a feel-good series--one of those series you get to look forward to at the end of the day.

Herrens Veje

(Ride Upon The Storm) is a Danish drama which--if you don't mind reading subtitles--is excellent: a story of a Danish vicar and his family. It's two seasons, ten episodes each.