A Snowbird in Paradise

Photos from an autumn drive along the Lake Erie shore

At the Movies with Grandma

Helping Grandma put out the Christmas decorations

The girls' school Christmas program

My daughter and son-in-law's anniversary cruise

A Gen-stop at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia

How can I stand not seeing the girls skating lessons for 4 months?

One of the gorgeous historic streets in the center of Savannah

In 1963, we (my children's father and I) visited Savannah where he had a lot of relatives.  I became enchanted with the city...the wrought iron balconies, Live Oaks, Spanish Moss, square parks marching through the center of the city, the old mansions and the simpler newer ones.  Years later I loved finding my children's father had ancestors buried in Bonaventure Cemetery, the very one made famous in the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1994 by James Brendt. 

We visited the cemetery in the early 2000s on the way to Florida, but it was huge, and I didn't know much about who was buried there.  This year, 2012, I have more genealogical information and knew for whom and what I was searching.

A memorial arch among the family monuments

The Bonaventure Historical Society says this about the cemetery:

"Though not Savannah’s oldest cemetery, Bonaventure is certainly its most famous and hauntingly beautiful. Quintessentially Southern Gothic, it has captured the imaginations of writers, poets, naturalists, photographers and filmmakers for more than 150 years. Part natural cathedral, part sculptural garden, Bonaventure transcends time."

James and Mary Bashlor - Great-Grandparents to my children

I met Mary in 1963.  She was in a nursing home, but on her genealogy she was crystal clear.  I wrote what she said on the back of a post card.  I am looking for that postcard just in case there is some information NOT in this cemetery.

James and Dweese Bashlor

I am assuming this would be James (Senior), father to James above, but the terms Junior and Senior were not used.  I still have to fit these into the family tree with more documentation.

The Savannah River

The cemetery was created from a large plantation on the Savannah River.  There are benches and other rest places throughout the cemetery.  We saw people of all ages walking through the cemetery and enjoying it as a beautiful park, which it is.

Shade, curved roads and walks, bordered family plots create the park-look.

Lichen

Spanish Moss

...hung with Spanish moss

Tomorrow I will start the task of packing for 4 months in Florida.  By now it SHOULD be just an overnight bag,
But then there are the electronics:

• big designing laptop with power pack and cooling pad in its own huge backpack with mouse and pad
• Bamboo drawing pad for the laptop
• mini-Laptop with power pack and case and mini-back-up
• Kindle Fire with charger, ear buds, cover and case
• a one-tere-byte external hard drive with my photos and design elements on it in a gun case
• an i-Pod with charger and ear buds in a case
• an MP-3 player with charger and ear buds in a case
• my "big-girl"camera, 4 lenses, extra cards and batteries, field case, camera case, and equipment bag
• my purse camera with case full of batteries and cards
• cell phone with chargers
• A bunch of converters so I can use the above equipment in the car while we are on the road
• the wireless printer with it own bag and bag for the power-pack
• Charging station for many of the above items
• 6 thumb drives of various sizes
• card reader for the CF cards my big camera uses

Non electronics include:

• 2012 Deluxe Planner
• Address and date book
• The last of the prescription meds, since I didn't get to a Dr. this year to get new prescriptions
• reading glasses, and bi-focal sun glasses
• Side-sleeper pillow
• my orchid plants in a plastic container with bark-medium

And for the journey:

• electric car fridge with food
• thermo bag with drinks
• a matching bag with plates, napkins, plasticwear
• blanket and neck pillow for my on-the-road snoozes
• my purse with money, credit and other cards, and photos of the granddaughters

Oh yes...and a suitcase of clothes I just MIGHT not have enough of down there.

Abs with her favorite

Just a few more things to do before Christmas.  The granddaughters are helping with the decorations.  A lot of our friends leave in October  but we wouldn't miss the holidays with the family for anything.  They live only blocks away so they are a huge part of our lives.

Gabs and Santa.  She mostly told him what her little sister wanted.

We will be on our way shortly after Santa visits, but a little later this year.  Maybe if we are lucky we will experience ONE snowstorm then escape the rest.

I was hardly in the house from putting out new seed and seed-cakes before the Woodpecker was at the feeder.

He is an interesting fellow even in black and white.

A Chickadee was the next bird at the seed cake.  He comes in grabs a seed or two and flies away...then comes right back.  Skittish little thing!!!

Meanwhile the mate stayed in the hedgerow.

I do love these photos.

Some of our pumpkins were not the orange variety, but our squirrels didn't seem to mind one bit.

They have torn into all of the 7 we had sitting about for them.

The next day...Punkin-Guts

Even two of the green ones!

Three of 6 left.  I wonder when they will hit these.

It was such a beautiful autumn day that we took a drive South along Lake Erie visiting places like

Pointe Mouillee State Game Area

View from the Mouillee public area

Duck Hunter heading for the dock

This was the opening day of Duck Season and the noise started exactly at dawn.  It continued during the day even while we were at the Game Area.

Ducks and seagulls

We noticed this mix of seagulls and ducks along the shore.  Seems like the ducks were hiding out from the duck hunters.

Eagles Nest

View of the nest

It looks like a bunch of little snowballs

The red leaves looked lovely in the setting sun.

Some of the Fall Foliage along the Lake Shore

There is a group of ladies in an Internet forum who have become really good friends over the last 5 or 6 years. Some recently decided to exchange postcards of their home towns.

Out new and old welcome sign combined

My wee town (2,000 people or so) does not seem to have any postcards.  I checked with City Hall and the nearby pharmacy.  Not much else in businesses in this city.  No postcards. So today I took my camera on a little shoot.

Looking up-river from one of the bridges

Here are some of the photos I didn't use...yet.  We have boats, boats, boats!!!  There are several marinas and, it has been said, there are more boats than the population.  Possibly because besides the marinas, there are loads of boats kept at the docks of those on the water.

A canal-side leisure spot

 With so many of the homes on the water, the residents love their outdoor living even if it is confined to a few short months.

City Hall with a nod to our geography on the water

When our city hall was built, the theme was all about the water, from the lighthouse in the architecture to the blue tile stripes around the buildings, to the chain and anchor parking separators in the parking lot.

Horse Island Bridge

Of course, if there are 5 natural canals, there have to be bridges.  We have 7 bridges and this one is the most scenic one.  It looks the same now as it did 70 some years ago when I first started visiting grandparents on Horse Island.  The road leading over the bridge was not paved back then.

We talked to a Florida neighbor on the phone the other night and he commented that Michiganders were coming to Florida this summer to cool off.  That isn't far from the truth.  This has been a record-breaking July with a week of temps in the low 90s and night temps in the high 70s.  Several days were record breakers.  It was the hottest July since they began keeping records.  Even the rain amount was high, but it came all in 3 storms.

Garden from the deck

The extreme weather stressed my garden and it was too hot for me to work on it.  I watered a few times but had to be careful of water bills with keeping the pool filled, too.  This was in late July but with the cooler weather in August the weeds have just taken over.  I have been working a little on bringing back the rose garden.  I am hoping the lady who worked with me last year on the garden will be here to help me again before fall.  She has indicated that she will be here once the weather cools down a little.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying the pool and air conditioning.

A pool keeps the youngsters amused for hours!!!

Do I like this photo?

In the Digital Photography School newsletter I read about a challenge to shoot some particular photos right in your own backyard.  There were 8 suggested challenge photos to take.  That same day my younger granddaughter was spending the day with me.  Her sister is 8 and has her own Canon camera, which just happened to be on my desk.  I showed the 5 year old a few details and out into the backyard we went.

Here are some of her photos and mine of her taking those photos.

1.  What strikes you?

This was the first thing that caught her eye.

2.  Photograph the light.  She liked the way the light came through the lattice roof.

If you look hard in the door wall glass you can see the little photographer.

3.  Shoot from a different perspective.  She got right down on the ground to "shoot" this frog once I explained "perspective".

My funny garden frog

A photographer doesn't care if she has to get down on the ground.  4.  What is growing?  This is her herb garden and it is just starting to grow.  The seeds came from a Christmas gift set.

basil, chives, parsley.

5.  Where is your favorite place?

Yes...that is my favorite place in the backyard. 6.  Find lines and shapes. She found this circle...just ignore the Gramma-razzi in the background.