Weeks Three and Four

Hey, Hey! It’s us again with greetings from Savannah. We hope that you and all the family are well, and that you’re receiving a whole bunch of blessings, and remember that Spring is coming, in spite of the snow. The weather is still a little crazy down here. The night temperatures have been between 25 and 30 degrees but the days are getting warmer. So, let’s recall what we have been up to in the Savannah area since we posted our last blog. Actually, it’s been pretty quiet, and enjoyable. On Sunday February 22, we went to a celebration of Black History Month and fundraiser at the Masonic Temple. It was billed as a “Red and Black Dinner”, (the preferred colors of dress for the evening),and was sponsored by The Order of the Eastern Star. The songs and presentations were inspiring, and the food was great (we have to watch ourselves with that southern cooking, though). We met some real good people there; and once we had introduced ourselves as members of the Prince Hall Masonic Family from Massachusetts, we were given the royal treatment.
Jo has been making decorative light switch plates (see pictures below), and on Monday, she took a bus into the downtown city to see if she could sell them through some of the shops there. Store owners liked them, but unfortunately the economic conditions are bad here too, so she didn’t have much luck then; but she’s working on other marketing ideas. On Wednesday, we went to a local farmers’ market near Bay Street (heart of the tourist area) where there were more crafts being sold than vegetables. We did see some beautiful local strawberries, beets and kohlrabi (which we don't know how to cook). The market is a smaller version of what you would see in Northampton or Amherst. Of course, it's still early in the season.
Friday evening was warm (for a change), so we drove down to Skidaway Island southeast of Savannah. It has a state park with good facilities and gated communities. We plan to go back to the fishing pier near the island real soon. For people who like photography, there are a lot of opportunities to take some good shots. JoAnn took some pictures of the sunset. Here's a picture Jo took of the sunset there. The final event of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival was a presentation of “Cross That River” with Allen Harris and the Cross That River Band at the First Bryan African Baptist Church on Saturday the 28th . It’s a “fictionalized” history of the Black West as seen through the eyes of an escaped slave named Blue, and consists of songs, spoken word, audience participation and quite a bit of humor. Everybody there seemed to enjoy it, while learning something at the same time. They had performed at 10 of the public schools that week. We're sure their presentation opened a lot of children's eyes. That night, we had some serious storms down here. There had already been a tornado warning issued, and ‘round about 2 a.m. Jesse woke up to warning sirens, very bad lightning all around, loud thunder and strong winds that made the windows rattle. Jesse was about to wake JoAnn up and head for the nearest inside closet. But things calmed down after a while, and nothing hit us, so that was good. Jo slept through the whole storm.
Sunday we went to a morning service at Butler Memorial Presbyterian Church in Savannah. It was a good, sensible, and short service (which was fine with us), and the folks there gave us a very warm welcome. The annual Savannah Music Festival is starting on March 18th, and we are both volunteering to usher (and get the see some of the events free). Our friend Desi Baker gave us the idea to do that. So on Wednesday March 4th, we went to an orientation meeting for the volunteers in order to get acquainted with our expected duties. More about the festival in a couple of weeks.
Now, on Thursday (yesterday), we were invited to lunch, along with Betty and Coley Davis and a school classmate of Betty's, Mrs. Eddie Mae to the home of Mrs. Agnes McKnight, another old church friend of Betty's. That's Ms. Agnes in the red. Southern hospitality is for real! We talked, joked, and laughed, and had a great time. Do you remember earlier we said that one has to be careful of that southern food? Well, the “lunch” menu consisted of: baked ham, fried chicken, collard greens, green beans, green pea salad, red potatoes, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, a shrimp and crab salad (to die for), corn bread muffins and sweet iced tea. With home-made apple pie, pound cake, and ice cream for dessert. Then Ms. Agnes insisted that everybody had to take some of that food home, since she lived alone. We'll be recovering from that experience into next week. Of course, Jesse dutifully went to the gym early on Friday.

Peace and blessings to all.
JoAnn and Jesse

Here are some of Jo's switchplates: