Busy, Busy

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I wanted to touch bases before more time passed.  It's that time of year when things begin to move fast around the holidays.

Melodee and I attended two films at the Savannah Film Festival on two consecutive Saturdays.  It was very festive and the weather was perfect on both days, so there were lots of people strolling about enjoying the event.  All of the eateries were busy and we had great lunches both days. The first movie we saw was Jane about the life of Jane Goodall (trailer here).  It was excellent.  It was composed of never before seen footage shot by a photographer for National Geographic's, who later became her husband.  I knew nothing of her personal life, so that was all very interesting, and the photography was spectacular.  Following the film was a Q & A session with one of the producers, which was also interesting and made us appreciate the film even more.

The second movie was Norman with Richard Gere.  He played a New York "fixer" and it was  kind of a character study, which seemed a different roll for him.  It, too, was good in a different kind of way.  Following the film was an interview with Richard himself.  He seemed very low key and with an easy sense of humor.  In the middle of it, one lady in the back stood up and shouted that she had flown in from Egypt just to see Mr. Gere!  He couldn't hear her, but when he learned what she had said, he called her down, shook her hand and wished her well.  At the end, after the final applause and the crowd was filing out, he called out a girl's name and asked if she was there.  Someone raised their hand and he said it was the sister of his son's best friend (who attends SCAD) and he just wanted to say hello.  So, who would ever expect to see Richard Gere in Savannah.  As we said, it was the best $3 we've ever spent!

An evening at Drinking Liberally

It also seems to have been a busy time for the Resistance.  The best news we've had is the wonderful election results early this month - a Shik was elected, several transgender people were elected, as well as lots of women and people of color.  It was a total repudiation of all Trump stands for.  We accomplished other things, or at least prevented the GOP to do some of the things they would like, but nothing as heady as the election.  Now if we can just maintain until the 2018 election!

Chris and I showed up at Mark Sanford's community gathering...at Kroger, right out my back gate.  You can see that this was a much smaller group than previous town halls and it was about half democrats and republicans.  There were some heated exchanges but he commended us at the end for keeping it civil. He tends to be very slick and long winded, but at least he makes the effort and there is small satisfaction in asking questions or expressing concerns.  Chis and I also had a nice lunch in the midst of everything else (on a different day)!

After George Bush, John McCain and Jeff Flake made their scathing speeches about Trump and the GOP, Lowcountry Indivisible canvased members, asked for donations and ran this full page ad in our local paper.  I thought it was great!  I haven't heard it there has been any feedback, one way or the other.  It was definitely satisfying to see it!






An then, yesterday (Friday) Steve Bannon shows up in Charleston, invited by the cadets to speak at the Citadel Republican Society (and given some type of award)!  Only two years ago, a White Nationalist, which is one of the many vile things he claims to be, shot dead 9 members of Mother Emanuel Church while they were having Bible study!  And then, they do this!  I contacted Tippy, one of my Resister Sisters, and we put on our protest boots again.  You can see from the flyer that the rally was very inclusive and totally peaceful. In fact, we were doing our thing directly across the street from the event but our backs were basically turned to them.  The speakers were very inspirational and motivation.  It was also wonderful to see people from all the groups mentioned, all open and welcoming. It was a last minute thing, but I think we were both glad we made the effort to attend.  Rev. Dixon, the organizer, did a fantastic job and I would definitely attend anything he offers.




Another reason for trying to touch bases now, is that I'm a little over a week away from our (Melodee and myself) trip to Panama.  We're sussing it out in case this country continues to go to hell in a hand basket at warp speed and we need a Plan B.  The area we are visiting is in and around Boquete  (second link HERE), and it sounds wonderful......though we know no place is perfect.  I'm trying to remain objective and we have a lot of questions, as well as places and people to see. Our main concern is the weather.  While the temperature remains springlike all year, there is a rainy season when it rains almost every afternoon.  As I write today, the high here was about 59F.  It was 81 in Boquete!  Anyway, we shall see and I'll keep you posted.  My plan for tomorrow is to start getting my clothes together, which is never fun. In any case, I'll be in touch when I get back.  In the meantime.....