Jim and I are on a short holiday and we are spending our last night in Savannah, Georgia. It's a place I've wanted to see for a very long time. I don't know exactly why I wanted to be here, but I'm sure it has something to do with the books Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt).
I am both vaguely disappointed in Savannah and enthralled by it. I'm disappointed that, as wonderful as the squares and the mansions found in the historic district are, they lack the mood I was expecting. I expected large squares surrounded by stately, distinctly Southern homes but found small squares with a few stately homes with bustling traffic. Still lovely, but too much part of the modern world.
What has surprised me is that outside the historic district, I found the "historic" Savannah I was looking for. We went to Bonaventure Cemetary, which figures in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and found the most amazing place - old mixed with new, elaborate gravesites mixed with modern plain, spanish moss covered trees mixed with assorted palms. Very distinctive, very moody, very "Savannah".
We've had some wonderful meals here - the best we had were in the Olde Pink House and Circa 1875. What I enjoyed most? Wet Willie's frozen strawberry daiquiris. Really. Frozen daiquiris available as quickly as a slushie, to be enjoyed as we wandered the streets, went up to the pool level in the hotel or as an afternoon treat after we'd been touring for most of the day. My frozen strawberry daiquiri became my twice-a-day treat for the last three days - a late afternoon pick-me-up and an after dinner delight as we wended our way home. Thank goodness for liquor laws that let you take booze off premises.
It's been a great holiday and it's not over yet - we start heading home tomorrow but still have a few days left to discover new things along the way. There's nothing like a road trip to break up the monotony of everyday life.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Like an old friend ...
Man, I'm not doing much of a job keeping this blog up to date, am I? Time slips away, as always. And as I was telling a friend the other day, I am again writing so much at work that I barely look at the computer when I get home.
But I am here, now.
Quick update on my last post - the line of the song is indeed "It's been a long time since I've been grateful" but I've forgotten the name of the artist. I will check again next time I hear it. What was interesting is that almost as soon as I wrote my post, the song left my head. Gone. Within minutes. Weird. It's almost like I had to write about it.
And here I am, almost a month after I last wrote, and I've got music on the brain again. It's different this time, though - it's making me a little nostaligic.
I'm listening to Gordon Lightfoot's "All Live" CD - it's his newest. It is, I believe I read, the CD he intended should be released after his death. He's not dead yet, and for whatever reason the CD is out. It's wonderful.
I'm usually not that keen on old guys releasing new CDs of either their old material or new material - the voices aren't what they used to be and rarely improve with age. It's almost painful hearing some of them.
Gordon' Lightfoot's voice certainly isn't what it used to be, either - a little thin on the higher notes, although still nicely rich - nicely, recognizably Lightfoot - on the lower notes.
What's so great about this CD is how it makes me feel. Lightfoot's music is the music of my late teens and early 20s. When I hear it, I'm right back there in my room at home, headphones on, eyes closed, with the music taking me wherever the songs led.
Gordon Lightfoot's storytelling is superb. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - I can see the storm and the ship. "The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" - who would have thought the story of the building of the railroad across this country - the railroad that tied the country together - would make an amazing and haunting song? And "Christian Island" - as soon as I hear the opening notes, it is summer and the breeze is light and the sun is shining off the water.
No one does love songs - or even lost love songs - like Lightfoot. Just the right tone, the right words, the right touch on the guitar, and .... lovely.
Now I have to go dig up whatever I can find of Lightfoot's music - I'm sure we have some old LP's (and we still have our turntable!) and we might even have a CD or two. I just have to hear more.
But I am here, now.
Quick update on my last post - the line of the song is indeed "It's been a long time since I've been grateful" but I've forgotten the name of the artist. I will check again next time I hear it. What was interesting is that almost as soon as I wrote my post, the song left my head. Gone. Within minutes. Weird. It's almost like I had to write about it.
And here I am, almost a month after I last wrote, and I've got music on the brain again. It's different this time, though - it's making me a little nostaligic.
I'm listening to Gordon Lightfoot's "All Live" CD - it's his newest. It is, I believe I read, the CD he intended should be released after his death. He's not dead yet, and for whatever reason the CD is out. It's wonderful.
I'm usually not that keen on old guys releasing new CDs of either their old material or new material - the voices aren't what they used to be and rarely improve with age. It's almost painful hearing some of them.
Gordon' Lightfoot's voice certainly isn't what it used to be, either - a little thin on the higher notes, although still nicely rich - nicely, recognizably Lightfoot - on the lower notes.
What's so great about this CD is how it makes me feel. Lightfoot's music is the music of my late teens and early 20s. When I hear it, I'm right back there in my room at home, headphones on, eyes closed, with the music taking me wherever the songs led.
Gordon Lightfoot's storytelling is superb. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - I can see the storm and the ship. "The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" - who would have thought the story of the building of the railroad across this country - the railroad that tied the country together - would make an amazing and haunting song? And "Christian Island" - as soon as I hear the opening notes, it is summer and the breeze is light and the sun is shining off the water.
No one does love songs - or even lost love songs - like Lightfoot. Just the right tone, the right words, the right touch on the guitar, and .... lovely.
Now I have to go dig up whatever I can find of Lightfoot's music - I'm sure we have some old LP's (and we still have our turntable!) and we might even have a CD or two. I just have to hear more.
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