Book Reviews: Of Local Interest

Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Green
This nonfiction takes place in McIntosh County which is located roughly an hour south of Savannah. Prior to reading this book, my knowledge of the area consisted of a mostly empty outlet mall and a couple gas station off of I-95. We've stopped there twice maybe.
The story begins in the 1970's with a rather corrupt sheriff in a county where the good ole boys system was accepted as the norm. While the opening scene of a sheriff permitting the pillaging of a truck wreck at first seems justifiable given the poor economic environment, one soon learns of far more unjustifiable practices. Thurnell Alston becomes the "hero" to stand up to Sheriff Popell and his corruption, gradually bringing the long delayed civil rights movement to a coastal Georgia community. However, even heroes sometimes fall and the last fifty pages illustrate that Alston is merely mortal. Green does brings an Agee-like quality to her writing and does an excellent job of capturing her subjects through interviews with parties on all sides.

Grade: B

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
If I were a writer, I would want to write a book like that offered by Janisse Ray. She artistically weaves her experience as a child and her insight as an environmentalist to convey a tale of the environments impact on humanity and humanity's impact on the environment. Set in Appling County, Ray creates a patchwork of local history, genealogy, and personal reminiscence tied to the driving theme of the work; the impact of capital gain on the unique ecology of the long leaf pine forests. Her story is especially moving, because she rarely openly preaches in "Save the Pine Gopher" picket sign fashion. Instead, she gently guides the reader, building a bond of trust and acceptance. She then utilizes this trust to persuade readers to see the same value she sees in an ecosystem that is quickly disappearing. Granted, I did not grow up in Georgia and could not tell the difference between long leaf or slash pine. Still, the story reminds me of the old growth "black swamp" ecosystem of home, a story that is likely familiar to others in many parts of the nation.

Grade: A


Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community by Tom Kohler and Susan Earl

One the one hand, this book is short and easily read during a lunch break. On the down side, the story lacks the detail that would flush the story, leaving the reader wishing to know more about the central character, Waddie Welcome. Waddie grew up in Savannah and had CP. Through time, family members who had cared for him died or moved on, and Waddie was placed in a nursing home away from the community. Through the efforts of many active citizen volunteers, Waddie was able to live his final years among friends and family in Savannah. By pushing for more personalized care for Waddie, he was able to change the medicare system. It's an amazing story with excellent photo images. Yet, there is so much more the reader is left wondering about Waddie. Still, in just the few short pages of this book, the reader will be in tears by the end.

Grade: C+

Savannah Weather Report: When it Rains it Pours

Savannah has some of the strangest weather I've ever seen. It can cloud up quickly, the sky can turn black. You'll here thunder and see lightening. Yet, miraculously you won't get a drop of rain in your part of town. However, no more than 10 minutes away, it will have poured and taken out power lines. Several times Rich or I have experience storms at our work, while the other hasn't, or it's rained at the apartment, but not at work. It makes travel planning semi-complicated.

Anyway, that's the way things had been going for us lately. We seemed to be dodging tons of bad weather. However, it finally struck all at once yesterday. The day began in the early hours of the morning, when I woke with the worst headache ever. We were out of Tylenol, so I tried to tough it out. By 8:00 am I had hardly slept and could take no more. I ran to the nearest store and on the way home, decided to have some "morning sickness" while driving. Thank goodness for the grocery bag I'd just received with purchase. The car was unscathed but I could not say the same for my clothes.

The next adventure centered on Rich and involved a trip to the urgent care and emergency room. He'll survive and will make a full recovery, but this knocked out a about five hours of our afternoon/evening. Nothing super serious, but definitely something worth looking into, especially since my mind raced with multiple worse case scenarios that could have been bad for baby.

To complete our perfectly lovely day, my car battery died while we were at the urgent care. Upon escaping the Emergency Room, we had just enough sun light for Rich to jump the battery. It got us home, but it was a scary drive. Doug did not like getting up to speed on the express way and stuttered several times--I kept praying just to make it home. This morning, despite a jump, Doug was completely non-revivable. For Rich's day off he's handling this one, as I'm too jittery and sleep deprived to be much help.

Between Rich and I, we have doctor's appointments for the next two days. Hopefully the car will be fixed soon and the sun will come back out. That's the nice thing about storms in Savannah, they never last that long.

In other weather related news, weather during the holiday weekend was really pleasant for a change. The average high temperature was well below its customary 98 degrees. There was actually a breeze, resulting in low humidity. Roz and I walked to the neighborhood park/fishing pier twice. I even turned off the AC, opened the windows and aired out the apartment. It was so nice to be able to spend time outside.

Adventures of a Busy Saturday

What do an old house, barbecue and a concert have in common? Our last Saturday of course. After a few month of struggling to find something more important than football to enjoy on a lovely fall Saturday, Rich and I found ourselves triple booked for a change.

First, it was Smithsonian museum day. The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace was available for tour free of charge. Although I had volunteered there, I'd never had the opportunity to explore the house. It was amazing and definitely worth the cost of admission (even on days when its not free). The home is very well preserved with incredible furnishings. The home has a lot of character. Unlike some museum homes, you can visualize a family living there. The history and family stories add to the charm. Of course there were less glamorous facets just glazed over, such as servants and Juliette's divorce. I think the glazing makes me want to do my own research and discover the unofficial tour information. Overall though, it really was worth the time.
Next, we attended the flying pig barbecue festival where Rich was a "celebrity guest judge." The carnivore had three servings of meat without having to pause for fillers like side dishes. He methodically and seriously approached his task. His professionalism attempted to mask his opinions. Yet I knew his "meat" face, the moment he tasted the winner, even if he tried to keep it in check. Luckily the rain managed to hold off until after we'd left.

Finally, we got back in Doug and were on the road. The Decemberists were playing in Athens and we drove 4 hours to be there. Along the way, we stopped to do some junking (I love antique stores!). We were greeted by many unusual sites including my dad's place-- "Grumpy's Restaurant," a manatee shaped mailbox that was probably as tall as me, and billboards advertising "Free Guns." Only in Georgia...The scenery was nice as the landscapes starts to roll as you head north. I've decided, if I have to live in an old home in Georgia, I want to be in some small town or in the middle of nowhere. In Savannah, no one has much of a yard.

About an hour out of Athens, the sky opened and buckets of rain drenched the route. Driving conditions were scary. We thought of pulling over at the next gas station, but since we were in the middle of nowhere that plan failed.
Thankfully we arrived in Athens in one piece, but then had the chore of finding parking. Who's bright idea was it to schedule a concert in a hall near the stadium while UGA was home and playing a 7:00 game? Seriously, one garage was charging $40. When we stopped for dinner, it was pouring outside. Yet Georgia fans, armed with bulldog red ponchos were joyously marching onward. Who are these people?

After all our trials, the concert was definitely worth the trip. The Decemberists are amazing. Their live performance and stage presence do not disappoint. I was impressed with the crowd they drew--there were many of the expected geeky-chic college students but also an assortment of middle-aged music lovers. They played The Hazards of Love from start to finish without a single pause. That takes talent and a really well-organized road crew. They then came back for a second set which found the crowd on their feet. They closed with an unexpected cover of Crazy on You which rocked.

The four hour drive back to Savannah was definitely not the highlight of the day, but all and all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Hockey in Savannah

Do you have any idea how hard it is to learn hockey while living in Savannah? I took up hockey a few months ago--just as something to do. Something I knew I could get Rich outdoors for. (It's hard to find motivation to leave the air conditioning during a 110% humidity Savannah Summer.) It started innocently enough--we just passed a hockey ball back and forth and tried to avoid Roz. I used Rich's regular stick, while he used the sacred stick he used to score his goal while playing on real ice. When we realized that, unlike Rich, I am not a right handed hockey player who can use a left-handed stick, we decided it was time to upgrade.

Finding a hockey stick in Savannah is a trick. About the only place with any is Play it Again Sports. There located in the back corner. There isn't much selection, so you've got to be lucky to find what you need. Rich must be lucky, because he found a basic street hockey stick (no frills plastic blade and all) for a right-handed player about my height. Truth be told--he didn't know my exact height and just bought the shortest stick they had. It fits perfectly.

We'd practice shots after work and I started getting respectable. However, just because I could clear the tennis court net did not mean I could aim. Rich decided we needed a net. Do you know how hard it is to find a hockey net in Savannah? Sure you can get a regulation size (4 x 6 foot) net meant for soccer, but they are flimsy and the holes in the net are too large for a hockey ball.
Rich decided to construct the frame from PVC pipe bought at the Home Depot.

Finding the net itself was another challenge. Apparently netting is harder to come by than you'd think, especially in Savannah. We searched high and low for an adequate material and finally settled on mesh laundry bags--you know, the sort that are on sale everywhere in August for the college bound.

The top tier of the net is one bag cut open on both the left and right side. The bottom tier consists of three bags, each split open on one side and the bottom. They are sewed side by side, with the aid of some extra-wide bias tape that was on clearance. The two layers were then stitched together, again using extra wide bias tape. My basic Singer sewing machine was not pleased with this project; it took an hour before I started my next project to return settings to normal cotton sewing mode.As you've guessed it, the net is attached to the frame with my own version of duct tape--cable ties.

The down side of our masterpiece? We can no longer play hockey on the tennis court. The management of our apartment has decried the court strictly for tennis. All other forms of recreation are strictly prohibited. Not that many people in the appartment complex actually play tennis. Guess they have to keep one thing about the place look nice and not outdated.