Saturday, September 10, 2016

Hermine, Labor Day and Other Things

Another month, which included a hurricane and a holiday, has passed since my last entry.  I hadn't thought much about the hurricane until I met Cheryl on her drive up from FL to SC.  She mentioned the number of electric company truck convoys she passed on the way up.  It was then that I realized they must really be preparing for the worst.  One house in our neighborhood had a tree fall on it, but I was luckier.......though I was concerned about the remaining parts of the tree that fell in my yard a couple of weeks ago.  The storm brought a lot of high winds and lashing rain, but by late afternoon it began to subside.  Yards and roads were covered with lots of debris, but we were fortunate not too have had more damage.  The following day was about as good as you could want, and the mornings have been cooler.  Rosie and I can sleep in a bit before our morning walks now.  Yesterday still got up to 95, but I'm thankful for cooler mornings!


It's also been a busy month, maintaining the usual activities (Living Liberally, Zentangle with Ana, Canasta, feeding feral cats, etc.) and working in a few additional things.  Elaine and I went to another Coastal Stage Productions play, this time Steel Magnolias.  We know from having seen the movie many years ago that there would be good, ole Southern humor, as well as a very somber part.  It was very well done and made me want to see the movie again.  This time, they had a run on Hilton Head, as well as Port Royal.  We went on island as it was closer, and we wanted to encourage them to regularly include HH in their schedule.  It seemed well attended so I hope they were well supported.

I've also swallowed the bitter pill and joined Curves!!  Those who know me know that exercise is something that never hits my radar......it is a forced march!! I decided that I either had to actually exercise OR "exorcise" that nagging voice that kept telling me I should do something!!  I'm trying the former but may end up doing the later. We'll see!  I've only been a week, every other day, and it seems okay.  There are no young, perky bodies there and most of the ladies (around my age) seem to be in good humor - a lot of joking around, laughing, etc.  I've not been forced to challenge anyone's political stance (lol!), but I'm newly into it!  We'll see how long that lasts!  

On Thursday, Cheryl Mc and I went to Jazz for All Ages benefiting the Junior Jazz Foundation.  In addition to providing instruments to those who need them, the foundation also started a jazz camp 6 years ago.  At that time, they had 6 students.  This year they had 100.  The Jazz for All Ages was a two night event.  We went on the first night, but I would have loved to have gone both nights as the programs were different.  It began with a junior jazz group, which was incredibly impressive.  They were great!  The main event was Rene Marie, whom I didn't know, but she and her group were equally fantastic.  It lasted well past my bedtime, but both Cheryl and I were so happy we'd gone.  I also had not seen Cheryl in a while and it was good to catch up.  There were also lots of people there from my synagogue days so, all in all, a fun, social evening.

Friday was the make up meeting of Liberal Ladies of the Lowcountry, which was scheduled to meet on the Friday of Hermine.  The speaker originally scheduled could not attend, so we expected to have "table topics"; but, we were surprised to have Lt. Gen Claudia Kennedy speak to us.  She was the first woman to reach the rank of three-star general in the US Army.  She gave us a brief summary of her background and then focused on what we needed to do to get Hillary elected.  She had some thoughtful suggestions and then fielded questions.  Everyone seemed to leave feeling very energized.  My take away was that we should concentrate on those who are undecided, because Trump voters are not likely to change (as I say, they are one issue voters and that issue is racism!).  We should know our facts and be able to state them clearly and calmly....and encourage discussion!.  I think Democrats are too quiet, to the point of letting others get away with total misinformation.  Anyway, it was a good meeting.  We now have a carpool of four ladies, where it once was Chris and myself.  Between "venting" and laughing, we had a great time on the ride in and back home.  It's a great group of well-informed ladies and it's a pleasure to be around them.





It was a year ago at the end of August that I got Rosie.  Needless to say, the house hasn't been the same since!!  She is such a treat to have, and it's great to see her charm the neighborhood.  Last week I took her for her first doggie daycare experience.  I'm hoping she will look forward to being with the other doggies so I might be able to leave home and feel that she is okay.  David has been good to stay with her for weekends, but he works from home and a longer stay would be asking too much.  Anyway, she seemed to do okay.  They kept her up front with other small dogs, which made feel better about leaving her, in that the staff was right there and could keep an eye on things. When I picked her up, she was yelping to get to me and was eager to get out.  It will be interesting to see how our second visit goes.  Keep your fingers crossed!

My goal this weekend is to enjoy some home time and to catch up on emails, correspondence.  So, I'd better get busy.  Have a great weekend.