Can you hear me now?

I had to replace my old cell phone, which I really didn't want to do...... it was one of those old flip-phones, that made calls and received calls--- no fancy stuff. However.... after a lot of dropped calls and mysterious shut-downs, and my cousins in NY telling me they could barely hear me, and even friends in Clear Lake who thought I was whispering on the phone.... it was just time to bite the ATandT bullet and replace that phone.

We may not have the greatest restaurants in this little town, but we do have an ATandT store, and that's where I went.  At first glance, I thought I had walked into a high school auditorium..... the sales clerks all looked so young.  Do they all head to the ATandT store after graduation?  And each of them had an iPad-thing hanging around their neck.  As they talk to you, they're typing your information into that iPad and wonder of wonders, your telephone history is all over their little screen.

"Wow.... your phone is from 2008..... and it's still working?"  (As if the year 2008 is part of the stone-age?  And does this child in front of me even know what the stone-age means?)   He asked me what type of phone I was looking for, and before I got a word out, he was listing all the models and apps and options.  I was getting dizzy, and we'd barely begun.

I explained that I wanted a phone.... a simple phone that would let me make calls and receive calls........... and I would like to not lose all the numbers that are currently in my phone that he was holding and I was starting to question my decision to let go of that old flip-top antique.

"Let me show you what's available now................"   And off we went, me putting on my glasses and the kid holding onto the iPad around his neck--- he had given me back my old cell phone and was impressed that I had taken such good care of it for 'all these years.'  (Let's see..... maybe in the year 2008, he was only 12 years old.)

There was an entire wall of phones in front of me..... fancy-dancy little things that needed to be touched with the tip of my finger in order to come to life ("No, no, not your fingernail, your finger-tip!")  He demonstrated the picture-taking resolution, the hundreds of apps, the memory, the games, the GPS, the data, eMail capabilities, alarm clocks, calendars, pill-taking reminders........ (What?!)  I just want a phone............ a blessed phone that will let me make calls and receive calls. (Besides that, I don't take any pills, so I don't need a reminder for that, and how old did this little kid think I was anyway?!)

We walked away from the big wall of the latest-and-the-greatest... and the kid took me to a far corner of the store.... two little flip-phones were on display. (Finally, something I can understand.)  Two different models of flip-phones, similar to the old phone that I was still reluctant to part with.  I asked the kid which of those two models would be closer in design and function to the one I bought in 2008.  "That one..... you can probably figure it out without even reading the manual, which is as thick as a textbook." (My cell phone from 2008 has a manual about as thick as a restaurant menu.)

Fine.  I told him I'd like that phone.... and I could see the disappointment in his face.  Before he went into the back of the store to get the flip-top, I made him promise me that he could transfer all of my numbers from the old phone to the new phone. "Not a problem."  Fine.

The kid transferred all of my numbers to the new phone.... "Wow! You have 120 numbers in here."  I told him I have lots of friends and a big family.  (Then I thought he was being a smart-aleck because these days, kids who are on Facebook have 4359 friends, having signed up their first 120 friends in the thirty seconds after registering on that site.)

I left there very happy with my new phone..... the happiness lasted about 37 hours...... and then I was back in the phone store because I had inadvertently deleted one of the necessary categories in the "shortcuts" app.  "How did you do that?" the kid wanted to know.  I told him that I was just so used to my old phone that I just pressed the buttons on the new phone the way I used to press them on the old phone.

However..... the kid was impressed with the fact that I was able to change the ring-tone on the new phone.  I left the store with a 'traditional ringer' sound on the new cell phone.  When I got home, I looked at the other options and figured out how to make the phone play classical music when a call is coming in.  I really wanted to ask the kid how I would go about getting a Barry Manilow song playing when I receive a call, but then I thought better of that request. I'm sure that young man has no idea who Barry is. 

All joking aside... the 'kid' in the ATandT store was very nice, very helpful, efficient and courteous, and very very patient with me. I had told him to explain the 'apps' to me as if he were talking to a ten-yr-old. (Not realizing that a ten-yr-old could probably teach me how to use the darn phone.)  The young man suggested that I use this phone for 14 days, and if I wasn't happy with it, or if I wanted to 'upgrade to a more sophisticated model,' he would be glad to do that for me.   I don't need a sophisticated phone..... I just need a simple flip-top that will let me make calls and receive calls............ not give me driving directions from the Hill Country to Alaska, not give me a morning wake-up call, and not give me a pill-reminder for pills that I don't take.  I would, however, have liked it if AT&T would have put just one Manilow song on their ring-tone option list for this flip-top.

Vacation's over....

.... for now, anyway.  We've spent the last week catching up with everything here.  Even though it didn't rain while we were away, the grass was still growing. And growing. Plus the hay-guy came to cut and rake and bale, and now we have huge round hay-bales in our fields.  The weeds needed to be pulled, the grass needed to be mowed, and there's always the laundry, which never takes a vacation.

I've been reading some of the books I bought in the cities we visited........ I brought some books home for our friends who took care of our cats and the flowerbeds while we were gone.  It's hotter here than it was in Florida and South Carolina, but without the humidity of those two states, we're just feeling the heat now, not the soggy breathless air that we had in the southeast.

I was consistently awed by the live oak trees.... all of them dripping with Spanish moss. One street after the other, filled with these massive trees that have witnessed centuries of history.  There was one very special tree called The Angel Oak... the most massive tree I think we'd ever seen............ tucked away in a protected area because this particular tree is most likely the oldest in the east, maybe the oldest in the country.  We got to The Angel Oak after the park had closed for the day, but we were able to see the tree through the chain-link fence that's all around the park. 

The history of South Carolina is alive and well, and very much respected.  In the midst of a small shopping center with grocery stores and restaurants, there was a green island of grass which had been fenced-in and recently tended. Inside the fence were about a dozen very old tomb-stones.  My guess is that when they cleared that land for the stores and the parking lots, they discovered an old cemetery tucked into the middle of the woods.  The builders managed to carve out that green island of grave markers, fence them all in, and it became this very small and peaceful oasis of green in the middle of asphalt parking spaces.

We're still talking about "The Athens Restaurant" on James Island in South Carolina.  How I wish they were here in the Hill Country. It was like saying goodbye to family when we walked out the door for the last time.

I liked the no-littering signs in South Carolina.... they said "Take Pride -- Don't Litter."   And the signs work there... we saw very little tossed-out-of-the-car items along the roads.  That's the way it used to be here in Texas.... but I don't think the "Don't Mess With Texas" non-littering signs work anymore in this state.  Seems to me that more people are just littering more and more. (And litter is one thing that no one needs 'more' of.)

As always, our vacation was a very well-planned tour of the cities and towns we visited, with my husband doing the research and reservations before we left.  We always leave home with a calculated list of places to go, things to do...... there is never a "What do we do now?" moment.

And, as always... no matter where we go, it's great to be back home....... after a certain number of days, you get to miss your own bed...... and the cats........ But honestly, what I wouldn't do for another meal from "The Athens.................."

Charleston

One of the prettiest cities, without a doubt...... filled with houses from the 1700s and the 1800s.... lots of ornate embellishments on the homes--- wrought iron gates, columns, porches, shutters, statues...... definitely an architecture-lover's dream city.  We drove around most of the streets, walked along others....... and also walked through the Charleston Market.

My friend V suggested that I bring home a 'sweet grass basket' for myself, and believe me, I tried.  We looked at so many of them along the roads, in the market, in the shops.... even the smallest ones were expensive, and the ones I really loved were hundreds of dollars.  Did I want to spend that much money on a basket?  I know they're handmade, and the history behind the baskets is a story in itself, but still...... three or four hundred for a basket. I just couldn't make myself do it.   I've been searching on eBay for the Charleston sweet grass baskets, and sooner or later, I know I'll find a bargain there.

We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Mount Pleasant, just a bridge-drive away from the city......... very pretty house, filled with interesting artwork and collections, comfy over-stuffed furniture with pillows and lamps and paintings wherever you looked. Very nice woman and her husband..... full of suggestions on where to eat, what to see, what not to miss.  If we ever get back to Charleston, I'd want to stay there again.

Our first day in Charleston, we found "Bubba Gump's Seafood Restaurant" for lunch..... such a fun place to eat, filled with memorabilia from the movie, the waiters giving you "Forrest Gump" trivia before and after the meal.  I bought some souvenirs in their gift shop for my cousin F, who loves that movie.

My husband had a list of the must-see plantations..... and we spent three days going from one to the other...... Middleton, Magnolia, Boone, Pinckney, and the Charleston Tea Plantation.   Best one was Middleton, which had a lovely little restaurant for lunch, overlooking the beautiful gardens.   We walked and walked, and took a couple of carriage rides.......... gardens with statues and mazes, flowerbeds that were just so pretty, trails along the riverfront, hidden gazebos, original slave cabins that made my throat tight. So much history in Charleston and along its rivers.  As I do in all the cities we visit, I found books to bring home so I can do more reading.

On James Island, another bridge-drive from Charleston, we found the "Athens Restaurant" and it was like being back on Long Island at Lou's café.  Wonderful Greek restaurant, family-owned, and the owner was there each time (he was giving me hugs and shaking my husband's hand............ felt like family!)--- the food was so delicious, the service so good, the atmosphere so welcoming.... we had three meals there in three days--- two dinners, one lunch.  The owner was so appreciative that he told our waitress to bring us free dessert.  Best Greek food we've ever had on a vacation.... best family-atmosphere in the restaurant, attention to detail was so over-the-top and appreciated... the best cheeses, the most delicious sauce, the best-ever homemade bread.......... I could have made a meal just on the bread, it was that good.  Everything we had tasted like there was a Greek grandma in their kitchen.  If that Athens Restaurant ever moves to our town here, I'm going to give away all of my pots and pans.

Driving through South Carolina....

We went to Columbia, South Carolina...... saw the governor's mansion and the gardens and historical homes around it......... had lunch at "The Lizard's Thicket" (crazy name, but they had a delicious big salad).   We drove through St. Matthew's, a town devoted to the protection of purple martins.... everywhere you looked, there were purple martin birdhouses.

So many old and beautiful homes in those towns..... we stopped to get iced tea and lemonade along the way, parking in the shade and just looking at the old homes.  Huge wrap-around porches which reminded us of our own house..... made me wonder how the cats were doing while we were gone.  All of the driving we did, and I didn't see any stray cats at all, which made me very happy.  If anything will make me homesick, it's seeing a stray cat or two walking along a deserted street.

(Speaking of stray cats..... we weren't home for one full day and one of our friends stopped by with a black/white kitten that she had found.  Of course the kitten was just precious, and it's coloring reminded us of Gracie.  My husband started to call the kitten "Gracie-Kitty" and I told him not to name that kitten if we had no intention of keeping it.  I called our friends up the road to see if either of them wanted this kitten........ they didn't....... and our friend G left our house with that kitten in her arms.  She will keep it till it's bigger...... then find a home for it.   As much as I would have loved having a tiny "Gracie-Kitty" in this house, I stuck to my promise of 'no more cats, no more cats, no more cats.')

We found Greek restaurants along the way....... we always look for those wherever we travel.  One was in Orange Park (Fla) and was just delicious...... owned by a nice family (the best kind of restaurant) and their prices were really off-the-charts inexpensive for that delicious food.  We talked to the owner's wife and she said they couldn't raise their prices because no one in that area would pay anything higher.  

Another Greek restaurant in Summerville (SC) had no moussaka or pastittio on their menu.  How can you have a Greek restaurant without those two stand-bys? We ate there anyway........ but wouldn't ever go back if we lived in that area.

There was an old-fashioned looking ice cream café in Summerville...... and what did they serve?  BlueBell, of all things, which is made right here in the Texas Hill Country.......... we had to laugh at that because we don't go out of our way to get BlueBell here........ our favorite is Hank's Ice Cream, made in small batches by one family in Houston......... the most delicious ice cream ever, without a doubt. (Apologies to BlueBell.)

Speaking of ice cream....... my husband found a "Shakes" ice cream in Orange Park, Fla.   We had a "Shakes" in Clear Lake, and one in College Station..... both of those franchises closed up.  The custard-style ice cream reminds us of Carvel Ice Cream, sold at franchises in New York.  I don't know why there aren't more Shakes around....... it's much better than Dairy Queen (we're not fans of that brand), and Carvel is nowhere to be found in the Hill Country (probably can't compete with BlueBell ice cream).

We were up in Austin recently, and my husband found a "Shakes" up there.... one of the cleanest and prettiest ice cream shops we've seen in a good long while.  As much as we like Shakes, I wouldn't be driving way up to Austin just to have that ice cream on a hot summer day.  After living in our small-town, big-country bubble right here, the traffic and the noise (and the nervous energy) up in Austin is just not for us. (I guess they really mean it when they say "Keep Austin Weird.)

Bishopville, South Carolina

We drove to Bishopville for one reason only..... to see Pearl Fryar's Topiary Gardens.  It was blasting hot on the morning we got there, but even the Carolina heat didn't take away the magic of those gardens.  There are all sizes and species of shrubs and trees that Mr. Fryar has cut and shaped into such whimsical and ornamental designs. Huge trees that require a cherry-picker.... small shrubs that must have tall Mr. Fryar down on his knees.  In one large part of the garden, there is a message cut out into the lawn and planted with red begonias............. it reads "Peace, Love, Goodwill."

We met Mr. Fryar...... told him how much we admired his work, and my husband took a photo of me and Pearl in front of one of his topiary creations.  Such a wonderful, peaceful, kind man...... told us that he 'created a monster' with his topiary garden, but he was just so pleased that the garden brought such joy to everyone who visited.  Honestly, you don't know where to look first.... and no matter where you look, your eye catches a beautiful design, or a water fountain made from found metal pieces, or Mr. Fryar's sculptures with a message.

PBS had a documentary film about these gardens and their creator...... I had caught part of the documentary on television last year, then ordered the DVD and watched it again and again.  Pearl Fryar is so dedicated to making his part of the world a serene and inspiring place, and you just can't walk through his property quickly...... you have to take your time and look at every design, every twist and turn in the trees and the bushes, and pay close attention to his hand-made metal sculptures. (Especially the one that says "Hate hurts.")

Walking through the gardens is free....... there is a small box for donations, and we gave generously. There aren't enough words to describe the beauty and serenity of Mr. Fryar's property. You just have to see it, walk through it, talk to Mr. Fryar about his work, his message, his passion.                    

 Want to know what heaven looks like? Just go to Bishopville and walk around Mr. Fryar's gardens.

Savannah

My favorite...... Savannah, Georgia........... we went there for the first time in 2006.... and we drove there after leaving Florida........ so pretty still...... tranquil in the squares, busier in the city center, but there's just something in the air in that city that makes you pay attention.

The big old trees, just dripping with Spanish moss......... and the big old homes around the squares...... it was hot there also, but no one seemed to care, not even us.  We had dinner the first night at Paula Deen's "The Lady & Sons," and then made a reservation for lunch there the next day.  Everyone is just so happy in that restaurant.... everyone who works there is always smiling.... the customers are happy to wait on line to get a table....... happy and smiling one day, and more happy and bigger smiles the next day.  Paula's magic is just there, all over, around every table, on every floor of that restaurant.

The first time we went to "The Lady & Sons," there was a small closet-like enclosure which held Paula's cookbooks and small gift items.  Now she has a huge store-sized gift shop next to the restaurant...... every cookbook that she's ever put out, plus her sons' cookbooks......... and every kind of kitchen item you can think of is in there with her restaurant's name on it.  Upstairs was a room filled with Christmas items, and still more kitchen utensils.  She had really pretty iced-tea glasses, but I didn't want to buy those and take a chance of having them broken in the luggage before we got home.

We drove to Bonaventure Cemetery..... walked around there for nearly an hour....... more huge old trees decorated to the ends of the branches with Spanish moss that fluttered in the hot breeze.  I can see the appeal of that cemetery..... if you take away all the old tombstones, you'd have a beautiful park.  As it was, the tombstones just add an authentic and very humbling sense of peace to the beautifully-cared-for grounds.

Just like our first visit to Savannah, I carried around my copy of "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil" (which is why we visited Savannah in the first place---- you read that book and the story and the characters just draw you into the magic of that city).  I started reading the book on the plane ride to Florida.... and didn't stop even after we left Savannah.

The dust-jacket cover on the "Midnight" book is so beautiful.... the famous Bird Girl statue that once stood at a gravesite in Bonaventure Cemetery--- they had to remove it from the cemetery and put it in the city's museum because so many tourists were trying to chip small pieces of the statue to keep as souvenirs.  One of these days, I'm going to find my own Bird Girl statue for our own garden.  Till then, I'll read the book which was written about the sculptor of that statue, and the story behind it.

If I had to pick another city to live in, it would just have to be Savannah............... the squares, the old trees, the Spanish moss dancing above your head, the happiness and peace, and the history there...... and what better way to spend eternity--- sleeping forever in Bonaventure Cemetery.

Saint Augustine, Florida

We spent a night at a B&B in St. Augustine...... a wonderfully restored 1920 Craftsman-style home, filled with vintage furniture and lamps and a four-poster bed that was so high that we used a little staircase-stool to get up into it.                                                                                                               

The homes in this particular neighborhood were all vintage, surrounded by small gardens filled with plants and flowers--- no need for a lawn mower there because there wasn't any grass to cut, and I'm sure the homeowners planned it that way. Each garden was different, with over-grown plants and flowers that took up just enough of the ground to leave room for statues and cute-sy garden ornaments.

There was even a privately owned very small bookshop around the corner from the B&B...... I could have spent a few hours in there, just looking at all the shelves and talking with the two ladies who owned the shop.  So nice to see a surviving bookshop that hasn't been swallowed up by the Barnes & Nobles of the world.

We walked around the back-in-time streets, had dinner by the waterfront at O.C. White's restaurant (O.C. stands for 'out of control)..... delicious seafood and very good service.  We drove to Anastasia Island to see the lighthouse there...... saw The Fountain of Youth park, but didn't go all the way into it because it was just so very hot that day.  We drove over the Bridge of Lions....... didn't get out to pat the lions on the head (a must-do for tourists, we heard). 

Lots of cute little shops in St. Augustine, but so many of them were similar to other tourist-towns that we didn't spend too much time in any of them. Wherever you walk in St. Augustine, you had to be careful of the lizards.... all over the grass and the sidewalks.... little ones, bigger ones.... we tried not to step on any of them.  A nice little town, but very tourist-y......... been there, seen most of it, and probably won't go back.

The Catty Shack

In Jacksonville, Florida,  there is an animal sanctuary for big cats...... called "The Catty Shack."  Wonderful place, filled with full-grown tigers and lions............ all in proper cages with lots of room to walk and play..... volunteers to take care of the animals (once abandoned by their owners)............ and the entire property was the idea of one man who just couldn't understand why people would buy lion cubs and tiger cubs and think they'd make good house-pets.

I'm sure that lion and tiger cubs are irresistible when they're cute and cuddly and just born... but honestly, does any sane person think they can take care of such an animal when it's 900 or 1200 pounds?  Give me a blessed break......... even Siegfried & Roy couldn't control one of their tigers......... and we all know how that story ended.

It was a sweltering day when we visited the Catty Shack, but the owner and his volunteers were all there taking care of the lions and tigers..... the animals were happy, they responded when called by name......... the volunteers/tour guides were well-educated and trained in what to do and what not to do with the cats.  We walked around to all of the enclosures.... the cats have wooden cottages with porches......... they stayed out of the hot sun, and seemed to be just as curious about the visitors as we all were curious about them.

Just amazing to me, that one man's dream has saved so many big cats from having to be 'put down.'  And it also makes me sad that there aren't laws in this country that prohibit 'every-day people' from buying those animals in the first place.

Happy 100th!

My Aunt Dolly's 100th birthday was last week..... we saw her on her birthday-day, along with some of my other cousins.  Aunt Dolly was all decked out and looked beautiful, with sparkling shoes and pretty jewelry, a nice outfit in black silk...... and I gave her a silver-glitter birthday tiara with the number 100 inside a heart design. Aunt Dolly wore that tiara all day long and looked like the Queen that she is.

My cousin S cooked a big dinner for the family..... turkey and trimmings, and it felt like an old-fashioned Thanksgiving....... we all sat around the table, with Aunt Dolly at the head..... with all the family (well, not even half of the family, but enough for a party)..... it just felt like the old days in Grandma's house.

The day before that, my husband and I spent the day at Epcot and Disneyworld..... we got there early in the morning, saw new attractions that we hadn't seen before, re-visited our old favorites..... and of course watched the parades.  Once again, as soon as the "When you wish upon a star...." song started to play during the afternoon parade, I started to cry. Never fails............ you would think, after all these years, even knowing what to expect at those Disney parades, that I could hold myself together.

That song just breaks me up.  My dad used to sing that song every Sunday night when Walt Disney introduced his "Wonderful World of Disney" television show.  Jiminy Cricket would sing that song, and so would my dad........ and now when I hear that song, all I hear is daddy's voice singing it, and I go into what Oprah calls 'the ugly cry.'

Florida was hot, hot, hot........ hotter than it feels here in Texas............ but at the hottest parts of a Texas day, we're not out in the sun and feeling that heat.  And we're not watching Disney parades in the blazing sun here in Texas........

Hope.

I read a beautiful quote on my friend J's Pinterest page this morning........ and I wanted to get it down here so I wouldn't forget it.

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all."  -- Emily Dickinson

And, being that I'm still happily immersed in reading "The Great Gatsby," here is what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about Jay Gatsby (concerning hope):   "If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of 'creative temperament'--- it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again."

Hope.  As Beverley Nichols would have said........... One must always have hope.