Kofi's Spring Break

Warm greetings to you all! We hope that good things are happening for you, and there’s joy in the house. Everything is still going well on this end, and we’re enjoying the blessings as they come.

Last time we wrote, we were getting ready to do our final volunteer stint for the Savannah Music Festival. On Sunday we worked a concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra that was well attended, and the music was interesting. The first performance was a specially commissioned composition by Christopher Theofanidis, and the structure of the piece was “unique” and different to say the least. It incorporated contrasting Western and Eastern forms alternating between harmony and dissonance at times, but it was well-received by the audience. Jesse seemed to have a bit of trouble relating to it, but Jo liked it as a piece of modern work. Later, master pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio joined with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to finish the evening off with an outstanding rendition of George Gershwin’s Concerto in F. What was noteworthy is that all the members of the orchestra relied on the sheet music, while Marcus and the trio did not. Now, that’s real professionalism.

Our grandson Kofi came down Tuesday night, and he’ll be here for a week. He’s really been keeping us busy and enjoying himself at the same time. We’ve been taking him to different attractions, and he seems to like what he’s seen of Savannah so far. We spent Wednesday, walking around the neighborhood. Believe it or not, the street that is one block away from us is Mill Lane.

Thursday was a full day. First, we visited Fort Pulaski, a national civil war monument on the Savannah River about 35 minutes from our place. We purchased our $10 Senior (lifetime) National Park Pass which entitles us to entrance to all of the national parks. What a bargain! The National Park Service has done a nice job of including the role of African American slaves who worked on the construction of the fort, and who also gained their freedom prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. The fort was also an Underground Railroad site. The visitors’ center there had activity workbooks for kids, which Kofi completed and was awarded an Underground Railroad Junior Park Ranger badge. He was proud of that. Afterward, we hung out at the beach on Tybee Island, for a few hours and Kofi had a great time. Even though the water was cold, he didn’t seem to mind it at all. There was supposed to be a blues jam at Savannah State College that evening (according to the newspaper), but when we got there it was not going on. We don’t know what the mix-up was – perhaps it was because it was Holy Week. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt :-).

We started the day on Friday by going back to Fort Pulaski for Kofi to complete his Fort Pulaski Junior Park Ranger badge. We went back to the beach at Tybee Island again. It’s only 2 miles from the Fort. Later that evening we went to a minor league baseball game where the Savannah Sand Gnats (the NY Mets farm club) beat the Augusta Green Jackets 5-2. We had great fun during the game yelling and stomping and afterwards, they had a big display of fireworks. Kofi was thrilled.

Saturday morning we started making our rounds at Skidaway Island. First, we visited the Marine Education Center and Aquarium, Georgia’s Marine Extension Service, and then on to the State Park for their annual Easter egg hunt and more. They also organized relay races, a rowdy shaving cream fight for kids 8–12, and a scavenger hunt. After the shaving cream fight, the rangers had to hose the kids down with water from top to bottom to clean them up. Kofi came home wet, tired, and happy. It had been a full day for us, as well as a full week.

So until next time folks, live well, laugh often, and love much. Peace.

JoAnn and Jesse

KOFI'S SAND ART: