fabulous faustina friday!

Remember when I sent out Halloween cards to the greats a couple weeks ago?

I had a brainstorm and enclosed stamped, addressed, post cards with each one, along with a simple request to each recipient:

please draw a picture or write about something you like and return to me.

The post cards were all old, old, old, hanging around here unseen for the most part.

These two were from a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo in the 1980's or thereabouts, with a group of grad school friends.

Seriously.

Off they went to Alabama, the hippo to Conner, the buffalo to Merritt...

and today they came home to me!!!

With words on them!!!

Words my two nephews wrote!!!

How very magical!!!

And what good timing - I was just talking about my Halloween experiment!

This was a first Friday, so the Boomers had their luncheon and I was there!!!

I have so missed these people!

Sue Gorecki is doing her best to keep us all engaged with these and doing a bang-up job!

(Reminds me of the Lunch Ladies!)

Today, we weren't downtown but at a little place on Wilmington Island, J. Thomas Kitchen.

The other six had lunch, but I had brunch an hour earlier, so I opted for dessert instead!

This huge slab of Hummingbird Cake was super good and only $4 - wow!!!

Why this particular choice?

Well, Grandma used to make this.

As she has been on my mind of late, I thought I'd see how well J. Thomas' recipe held up to her standard.

Apparently, the chef is Southern, too!

Yep, I was definitely meant to be here for this gathering!

Right place, right time.

(smile!)

Tonight, I'll be dining on Thai...

at The King And I...

then attending "Goldeneye"...

and that's all the rhymin' I've got!

Bfrb, bear, and panda don't give that "aye" sound!

Plus, the movie is actually "Goldfinger", in honor of Sean Connery.

So... there's that.

(smile!)

why the lantana abides

Yesterday, I sat on the front stoop in the sun, basking in the warmth...

and realized I was not alone.

The wild lantana on both sides of the little porch was finally in bloom and had attracted some latecomers.

How very nice to have visitors!

Usually, the monarchs make my yard one of the oases of blooms to parch their thirst and fuel them up for the long road to Mexico.

Not so this year.

Two big stands of lantana in the front yard had not bloomed at all, their leaves looking shriveled and patchy and dried out instead of firm and lush green.

I had chopped down those two three or four weeks ago and hauled them to the curb.

Their removal sparked some reaction in the remaining bushes out front.

Their leaves transformed and variegated blossoms popped out within two weeks.

Better late than never, I guess!

The presence of the butterflies and moths and even a few small bees seem to confirm that conjecture.

I'm just glad to have the little lovelies brightening the yard, and my life, with their presence.

Inspired by their industrious nectar-gathering, I set about clearing the overgrown vegetation in the side yard.

Mostly it was a cluster of very straggly wild lantana that had bloomed on time - i.e., in early October - and run its course.

A few misplaced oak seedlings and wild cherry saplings caught my eye and those were chopped down, too.

Now, three fairly tidy piles await those who haul such things away.

(smile!)

And while I was making those piles tidy, my youngest brother stopped by on his way home from work!

We chatted, with his truck in the street, for at least twenty minutes.

Very nice!

Then, done with the yardwork and about to go in for some slunch, my neighbor pulled up in front of my yard!

John - remember him? the one who shares my birthday? - has been in Alabama with his daughter and has decided to move there for good. Jessica and Rob are still going to rent the house, so that's good.

We must have chatted at least twenty minutes, maybe even forty!

I dined on my quick and easy "poor girl's ceviche" and watched an old Christmas-themed "Beat Shazam", trying to guess the songs.

And the phone rang... and it was my brother Smitty!

He had not only spotted our middle brother, but had conversed with him!

He knows that I've been concerned about Ronnie, as I have not talked with him in two years; that's a long time to not know a brother is doing okay.

Now that I know he hangs out at the Marathon gas station on Skidaway, I'll make a point of looking him up.

Who knows?

Maybe he'll surprise me and let me buy him a phone to keep in touch...

but I'll at least get him to call his daughter and son to check in.

Yes, that sounds like a plan of action...

and this is the first hat trick with my brothers that I've had in quite a while.

Very nice!

i thank You, God.

'lection day luncheon!

Such a rare treat!

A weekday lunch with my first niece!

We haven't had those since she stopped working in Richmond Hill.

The reason we were able to today is twofold: she had not yet changed her voting address and she was off from work early because the littlest girl had misbehaved at daycare.

All of that worked in my favor -

i thank You, God!

It was even on a Tina Tuesday, so I'm counting this as my date night meal - oh, yes, I am!

I had been planning to pick up pizza from Papa Murphy's, but now there was no need for that dinner.

Cici's made one to order for me, sans cheese but with plenty of chicken, pepperoni, and veggies, so I was one happy camper.

Plus, there was that great big salad and fresh, hot cinnamon buns for dessert.

This was a much better deal...

and the company that shared this with me made it a repast fit for royalty.

(smile!)

word up, tell me what's the word?

Please notice the date - October 6 - and please also notice one more thing.

Although this resembles the "new cases" graphs I've posted, this data is not for several states in the USA.

It's for several states in India.

This brought home to me that ours is not the only country dealing with a myriad of responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus over a period of time.

This is why it has been so difficult to convince people worldwide to treat COVID as a serious issue: it may not have yet affected their part of the country or of a state.

 

 

These are the latest curves for our home-grown pandemic.

Yes, I mean home-grown, as we have had the opportunity to quell the surge, but have instead embraced the rush upward.

Once the first cases were found in California and New York, a half-hearted effort to stop the disease was met with resistance nationwide... and the virus marched on, unchecked, spread by bare faces and dirty hands and tainted breath.

It was mindless of religious faith or political persuasion, not heeding ethnic backgrounds or gender differences or even rainbow affiliation, discounting relevance of financial wealth or job title.

After all, it's a virus.

It doesn't play favorites.

It doesn't play.

The whole function of a virus is to make more of itself and to use its host's ribosomes to do so... and to use its host to spread to other hosts.

The virus depends on its host being in close proximity to other potential hosts, whether at the beach or theme parks as it was in the summer, or up in areas rich in fall foliage.

In this graph of rates of infection per 100000 people, there are three trends present.

There are those that are beginning to plateau (LA, FL, GA, CA, TX), those leading into an intense rise (MI, PA, TN) and those sharply increasing and heading for the moon (AL, OK).

Those latter five are at a little higher latitude, so the trees were quite lovely a month ago... and their rates, as well as their weekly sums of new cases, have been rising for the last two weeks.

Yes, there's that magic number: two weeks.

No surprise there.

Sigh.

Again, we need not feel singled out.

Every country, on every continent, has been dealing with this malevolent virus, some for a few months longer than we in the USA.

Europe is currently experiencing a second wave that has been much more deadly than the first and has posted daily infection rates that are triple what was perceived as so terrible during their first encounter with this coronavirus.

COVID-19 is not only a serious problem in the United States.

COVID-19 is not a disease which will be cured by a change in leadership, in this nation or elsewhere.

COVID-19 requires all humans to make a concerted effort to eradicate it, regardless of where they live or what they believe or how they self-identify.

COVID-19 requires each one of us to take responsibility for our actions, to lead our children by example to be mindful of causing no harm to others.

Colder temperatures mean more people inside, in spaces with recirculated air, whether at a grocery store or at work or in school.

It is vital that each one of us makes the effort to have the health of others always in mind, wearing our face coverings, washing our hands, not touching surfaces.

Remember, the goal continues to be no new cases...

As Cameo would say, "Word Up!"

Here's my take on that song.

 

"Yo everybody all around the world
Got a true thing to show you
So tell all the boys and girls

Tell India, Brazil and all of Europe too
COVID madness looms around us
though we know just what to do

Wear your mask everywhere to show you care
Maintain social distance even if others look and stare
Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands but not quick
Got to get you up some lather cause that's the real trick
Word up
everybody say
Wash those hands for twenty seconds and do not touch your face
Word up
it's the code
word
Let's all try to do better - please tell me that I'm heard

That virus doesn't care if you think you're fly
It cares naught about religion and here's the reason why
A virus has no politics, ethnicity, or gender
It's an alien invader, that's what you gotta remember

With no vaccine we ain't gonna lose it
Whichever way we turn it'll already be there
We don't have the time for bureaucratic nonsense
No nonsense, no nonsense, no nonsense for me, people
Come on won't you tell me
what's the word
Word up
everybody say
When you hear the call please say you'll get it underway"
 

'Til next we meet...

please take care of each other.

Not just those you know and love, but also the strangers you haven't met yet.

Thanks.

4 girls birthday party!

Here they are, rounded up from the playground and sitting at the table, waiting for the "Happy Birthday" song to start!

There's Leila, closest to her Grammy; then the shorter, at least as blonde, head of Chloe; and then Miyah Papaya, closest to Nana Venita!

I know, I know, there's supposed to be four girls at this shindig...

and there were...

until Alyssa broke her arm in multiple places on the swings.

(She and her daddy missed the entire three-hour pizza party there at J.F. Gregory Park.)

After cupcakes and ice cream, it was finally time to tackle that massive mound of gifts!

I swooped in and set up the girls with my gifts to open first!

I wanted to make sure I would get this photo, right?

Of all three opening the G'Aunt Tina presents at the same time, right?

Good call!

Once they started tearing off wrapping paper, it was anyone's guess whose gift was in their hands!

Not my first rodeo, right?

I was in exactly the right place, right time, to capture this shot - amazing!

Not only did I catch 2-year-old Chloe with her toddler art kit and 3-year-old Miyah all ready for a tea party with her multi-piece set, but I also got their Mama, my dear Christina Ann, right there, too -

just by pure coincidence -

which means Mama was right there with me.

What a blessing!

After that, my turn was over and I backed off and let others in close.

I knew that Papa Chris, sitting there on the tailgate, was videotaping the proceedings for posterity, as well as for the missing twin sister and dad.

I also knew this was probably the only shot taken of him, right?

The one behind the lens is the only one not captured on film, usually -

but not this time!

But wait!

I had not revealed what 6-year-old Leila had received!

Well, first, inside that Dia De Los Muerte bag was a smaller gift bag, stuffed with five pairs of fun socks, a package of mini-posters to paint, and five reusable cloth face masks, each with a floral pattern and in a nice variety of colors.

Those are sure to keep her healthier, not that she's in kindergarten!

But the part she was most excited about was the yellow monarch card at the top of her bag -

I'll have to remember she likes butterflies!

Alyssa's lighter color DdLM bag had the other 5 pairs of socks from the ten-pack I'd bought, a mini-poster package, and, of course, five face masks for her, this time in bright bandanna colors.

I hope she'll like them!

I know I liked the goodie bag I walked away with - and I'm not talking about the half-package of mini-Tootsie Rolls I got!

Oh, no, I'm referring to the 'corn (as Miyah refers to unicorns) filled with candy eyeballs, stickers, a stamp pad, a mini-notebook, and a even a pen!!!

Wow - pretty nifty goodie bag!

Thanks, y'all, for letting this big kid have one!

(smile!)

all hallows day and night of VOICE

Tread lightly, the sisters will waken...

best to not be in the cemetery at all...

do you not hear the maniacal laughter?

Be quick, be quick... oh, 'tis too late!

The trio of witches have stirred back to life, only to find no trick or treat allowed during this time of pandemic.

Curses upon this befouled arousal!

But, soft... could not their youth be restored with scary songs...???

Ortlinde clutches Waltraute's right hand, Gerhilde grabs onto the left hand, and the three cast a spell to make it so!

As soon as the words left their lips, there's Giani!

He's waxing rhapsodic about his love of monster movies, having just watched one and heard Christopher Lee read "The Bride Of Lammermoor".

That's when the sisters realize the power of song to rejuvenate - and what better songs than those of Mozart!!!

But, of course!

Feeling better after a healthy dose of "Don Giovanni", the sisters take their turns at solo numbers to demonstrate their prowess!

 

 

After a quartet performed the "Danse Macabre", a fearsome sight arose: three floating heads mouthing nonsense words about the valley of the king!

Very spooky... and utterly delightful to the sisters three!

Greatly refreshed, and almost back to their youthful visages, they have but one request: more Wolfgang, the darkest of his dark!

And so they were rewarded with the songs of the Stone Visitor as he reprimanded Giovanni for his many misdeeds - oh, yes!

"Dies Irae" from the "Requiem" provided the last few drops of cheek blush and lip rouging that the old girls needed!

Now, they could safely return to their slumbers and await an awakening in another three hundred years, with dreams of children roaming the streets unaware that they were the treats witches seek ... in the Twilight Zoom!

Bwah ha ha ha!!!

Thanks, Savannah VOICE Festival, for this nod to "Hocus Pocus"!

Such great fun... and a treat so sweet that I've indulged twice!

(smile!)

an afternoon with Grandma

 

This sewing basket belonged to the one-and-only grandmother I ever had, Mama's mom.

The basket was given to her for Christmas in 1978, while I was home for the holiday from C-school in Pensacola.

What stories that basket could tell, I'm sure, of dresses made and pants hemmed and rips repaired!

Now, the basket is mine, passed along to me at some time in the past.

Might it have been after Grandma died on April 2, 1997?

Or was it after Mama's death on January 2, 2001?

Hard to say, really, as time got rather warped for me during those four years, and for a few years afterward.

So, what prompted today's attention to this item normally in the hall closet?

My thanks are due to Amber, actually.

Yesterday, while my clothes were drying at Sandfly Laundry, she and I had a chance to chat.

While doing so, a man came in, needing to have a button replaced.

That got us talking about sewing, how I used to do it for much of my life, how the last thing I crafted had been my wedding dress in 1992.

Amber I asked who taught me to sew.

"Mama did," I told her, "and Grandma is the one who taught her."

We'd been poor, so sewing was the way to have nice clothes without spending much money.

That was all before Walmart existed...

no, seriously.

With the advent of mass-marketing, clothes can now be purchased for less than the material cost for someone making dresses or blouses at home.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to still have that option, even though I haven't exercised it in almost three decades.
 

After brunch, I dug out the seam ripper and repaired my other bra.

Yes, I only have two, both bought several years ago and no longer made.

The underwire had come loose and I'd pulled it out, at the time, rather than fix the hole.

Big mistake.

So, after four months of not having it in use, I now can wear it again.

Hallelujah! 

What else needed sewing?

Well, how about my winter jacket?

It's been waiting patiently since March for me to fix its frays and tuck its lining back into place.

The actual task took me almost two hours.

I had to rethread the needle seven times - yes, using different colors each time to keep it fun - and because Sally would have done so - and I think Grandma and the seamstress from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" would both be rather proud of me for getting my jacket spiffed back up.

Honestly, I couldn't have wished for better company than those two women.

(smile)