sunshine and some last words...

One of my favorite things about these vacations at Chez Kosmach is having breakfast on the back porch.

I especially enjoy that experience when the sun is shining brightly!

The view offers something different and interesting all around, from the tree with the thirteen birdhouses to the bouncy toy animals to the clusters of trees of different types near the blue-dyed canal.

Then there are the sounds!

Birdsong of several types!

Chimes on the back porch merging songs with the front chimes!

Even the sounds of cars passing on the street seem more charming.

I remembered that I needed to write in Dawn's guest book.

What should I do for her this time?

 

How about a different scribble flower and a poem?

She would not be expecting that!

Yes, that would serve as a mighty fine start!

"Rain, rain, would not go away,

refusing to let Stella and Coco play.

But Saturday's sun

allowed them to run and have fun,

until the night storm at the end of the day."

 

Yes, that really sums up the vacation rather nicely!

Now, they should be home any minute from Chicago.

Time to take Stella by the front door to welcome them!!!

(smile!)

back to back bananas for me and stella!

For my last vacation in Georgetown with Stella, I'd been surprised to find the Banana Ball game on TV.

This time, I made sure to check their schedule!

That was a good call.

That meant I was prepared yesterday for the night game...

and I was prepared tonight for the second in that series of three!

 

Of course, I made sure to dine with my brothers last evening.

I wanted to talk with them about our Aunt Linda, who is in the hospital.

I am so grateful Smitty and Tony came with me for her Birthday Tea last year, spending quality time with her!

Nice for me to spend this quality time with family and friends at the S&K Friday Fiesta, too.

I jetted off about 7 PM, though, to make sure I got back to Stella before night fell... and before I missed too much of the game!

I arrived in time for the bottom of the 3rd inning in this game that pitted the Savannah Bananas against the Indianapolis Clowns in their home city of Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Great American Ball Park.

How very cool those aerial shots were, with the downtown surrounding that diamond of green!

The Bananas took the point for the first inning, the Clowns got the one for the second inning, and neither got a point for that 3rd one.

However, the Clowns, playing on the field they'd last been on 37 years ago, got a fire lit up by the crowd, taking the points for the next three innings!

That meant that at the bottom of the 7th, they led, 4 to 1.

Then Joe Gray, Jr. smacked a walk-off home run, bringing it to 5 to 1!

The Bananas managed to get the point for the 8th inning, but couldn't score again in the 9th, leaving the final at Clowns 5, Bananas 2.

Great game!

Tonight, here's the scene, with the same teams, same field, bottom of the 3rd inning.

Kyle Luigs was the starting pitcher for the Bananas and he had kept the Clowns from getting any runs.

That streak fell apart in the third, with the Clowns getting that point!

The Clowns also took the point in the 5th inning to tie the score 2 to 2.

Not to be outdone, the Bananas took the points for innings 6 and 7!

So exciting, with the thunder rumbling outside!

Their lead may have been aided by Hall of Famers for the Cincinnati Reds doing cameos on their team.

Both Adam Dunn and Aaron Harang played in those two innings!

But it wasn't time to count out the Clowns!

They got three runs in the 8th inning to take the point, bringing their score up to 3 against the Bananas' 4.

That's when they brought in Peanuts the Elephant to pitch in the 9th.

Although the fans loved it - as did I! - that may not have been the best for the team in this close game.

See, the Bananas had already scored three runs that inning.

However, Peanuts kept them from scoring any more, so that was good.

Sadly, the Clowns didn't score any runs that inning, so the Bananas took that game, 7 to 3.

There'll be a third game tomorrow, but I'll miss that.

Can you imagine?

The folks in that Ohio town are getting three Banana Ball games in a row!!!

Wow!

That means over 120,000 fans will have seen the games over this home stand.

That's amazing!!!

what a reunion at the patio!!!

Stella and I had arrived first.

I wasn't even sure if the party on the patio would come to pass, but I had made the choice that morning that we would be at the patio at 5 PM on this first sunny afternoon in days!

We were there about ten minutes early, just hanging out and hoping.

Then we heard it: Terry had turned on the speakers!

Rock music stirred the air!

Then Susan opened the back door and stepped out... 

with Coco close behind, but moving slowly...

until she saw Stella coming across the patio...

and justthatfast, the two dogs made a beeline for each other like friends who'd been apart too long!!!

What a glorious display of love and friendship!!!

They played and played!!!

That was well worth getting carried away by sand gnats for thirty minutes...

I'm so glad we finally had this party on the patio!

language lessons

"On vacation? In Georgetown??"

Yes, believe it or not. And they came from a puzzle-a-day calendar, of all places. I've done a couple of those crossword puzzles while here with Stella, but this was the most fun of the bunch!

"Didn't you do some on your last stay with the dog? I don't recall you making a big deal of any of those."

Yes, I did do crosswords then, too, but I just didn't say anything. I really might see about getting one of these calendars next year. I'll have to see what different makers there are. These were all from the New York newspaper and some of the clues are about people I've never heard of. Maybe I'll find a Jonesin' puzzle calendar!

"Oh, that would be fabulous!! You've done his puzzles for so many years!"

I have! I very much enjoy his sense of humor! This one reminded me of his style, in a way, but what I most enjoyed was learning some new words from other countries.

"I see that you have persisted in using an ink pen on these puzzles."

As I said years ago, the vibration of the graphite in a pencil against the fibers in paper really aggravates my hand. Remember, my right hand still has carpal tunnel syndrome. It was just never so bad that it needed fixing, like my left had.

"Yes, dear."

You can 'Yes, dear' me all you want, that doesn't make it any less true.

"Yes, dear. I mean, do continue about the puzzle, won't you?"

Yes I shall, as that's my purpose here on this beach today. It was actually two school-related clues that really convinced me I was right place, right time. The first was "Vacation, in Swedish, and half of an academic year, in English." How very cool to give an alternate meaning for 'semester' to a retired professor like me! 

"Oh, that was very nice!!! What was the other?"

It was "High school, in Danish, and an indoor sports area, in English." I actually recalled knowing, in my distant past, that 'gymnasium' was that term. I must have picked it up in my reading, back when I read books.

"I have to wonder if our use of that word is maybe from another country."

You're right! The roots are from Italy and Greece. That latter is the more interesting, as it denotes "a place for exercising naked". Hahahaha!

"That's funny!!! So, what else did you learn in that puzzle?"

Here's one: "Vintage car, in German, and a former military person, in English." Who would have thought 'veteran' had that other meaning! Plus, that was another case of right place, right time, for me!

"That's pretty amazing. And do I see that puzzle appeared in the calendar for January 7, 2026? Is that right?"

You're correct. I was working on these crosswords in the order in which they appeared, so this was the seventh I'd run across. Not that I attempted each one, mind. I'd look them over first, to see if I could see a pattern or whether I could answer several of the clues. If I could, then I went for it! I didn't want to leave a bunch of half-done puzzles for Dawn and Koz to work on later.

"Ah, how kind of you? Sure seems like you cherry-picked the easiest ones."

No, I did not. Remember, everyone has different areas of knowledge and experience. I was being selective based on my talents in those two areas. Like with this clue: "Competition, in French, and an instance of agreement, in English." I determined that to be 'concurrence', which actually has its roots in Old French.

"You do so love looking up a word's origin!"

Specifically, that's called a word's etymology. I like to think of it as its genealogy. You can almost follow the migration of people by the travel of a word from one language to another.

"G'friend, you do like tangents, don't you?"

Nice of you to notice!

"So, were those four the only language-learning clues?"

Nope! There was one more, and it seemed meant for me, too! "Plywood, in Danish, and a dwelling with multiple units, in English." Years of working with my brother at his flooring business, coupled with continued forays to cinemas, lead me to 'multiplex', of all things. Whaddaya think of that?

"Perfect!"

Now, I'm going to work on finishing my Stella-in-June Film Festival. So far, I have "The Wedding Singer", "Pitch Perfect", "Pitch Perfect 2", "Shang Jin And The Ten Rings", "I, Robot", and Weekend At Bernie's". Time to add "Grumpy Old Men", as it starts in just a few minutes!

"What a smorgasbord of genres you have there!!!" 

how a rhodesian ridgeback spends a rainy day

First, she duly goes out on the front porch with the human, who wants to give her a change of pace.

But the ground is too wet to lie down.

Raindrops are still misting through the air and onto her face and nose.

Drops of water are still falling erratically off the roof.

There is no way to dodge them to get to the yard.

Finally, the human opens the front door and they go inside.

 

How to pas the time inside?

Well, Miss Stella has a variety of options.

She chooses to lounge on the couch, stretched out to her maximum length...

ah, yes, mine mine mine!

When she tires of being there, she drops down into her doggy bed on the floor, then settles in after rearranging the pillows...

yes, that will do!

Feeling thirsty, she rises and gets water, then repeats her time on the couch and bed. 

 

Here's the thing: she has yet to go outside and pee.

The human is concerned and walks with her onto the back porch, coercing her to follow into the yard.

They are the only creatures out in the light rain that continues to fall.

Together, they go by the Tree of Ducks that stands near the graceful canal... and a small wooded copse.

Yes, the rain barely falls in that bit of trees, so at last she has relief!

Bladder empty, and also the bowels, it was time to return to the dry house and maybe get some treats!

Then back to the couch...

every day, every day i write the book...

Yes, I cribbed that post title directly from the 1983 Elvis Costello song.

Not that it particularly pertains to this photo.

The only book I write in every day is my journal, which I keep to jog my memory from time to time.

The photo, however, was an entry in Dawn's Guest Book II, which I forgot to record back in May.

Everyone who stays overnight at the home she shares with The Koz are to write in that book, and that includes dog sitters!

To make up for my lapse, I had promised her one of my scribble flowers, so there it is!

I even brought my box of crayons so I could do it up right!

I added many of the highlights for that ten-day stay, including the parties on the patio, with goslings and without.

I spoke of the Banana Ball game on ESPN as a special treat!

I even mentioned the musical at Savannah Country Day during my stay!

Some of the many movies I watched on their channels were listed, too!

And of course I talked of special moments with their crazy dog!

I managed to fill a page and a half in their guest book.

I think Dawn will be quite pleased!

(smile!)

summer picnic luncheon on the beach!

"That doesn't look like any beach to me, g'friend. In fact, it looks just like Holliday Hall at Asbury!"

That's because you're not squinting your eye and holding your mouth just right! HAHAHAHA!

 

"Wait a minute... I know what this is! It's the Sisters In Faith luncheon, isn't it? I recognize Judy Wilburn and Beth Ballance."

 

You're correct! Neither of them were at the purple-clad table where I parked my keister, though.

I chose it for the color, of course! Patti Steinhauser, on the far left, was already there. Then we were joined by Debbie Wright, CeCe Coleman, Robin Eifler, and Sandra, the mother of Jenni from the April luncheon. 

  

"Steinhauser? Isn't that the surname of the guy in the band?"

 

Yep, it sure is! Tim was there to entertain us this time, too, but the guys called themselves the Beached Bums today! he even had her come up and sing with them for "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow PolkaDot Bikini"!!! Very funny bit, with him wearing that swimsuit!!! Well, kinda sorta. LOL!!!

 

"Nice music for y'all's day 'at the beach'! I see there was even a beach ball!"

 

Actually, that was the "talking" ball, passed around with the holder of it asked to share a favorite story about the beach with us. Guess what? I got up and did that! I told all about Mama taking us four kids to the beach often during the summer, with a jug of water and peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. We'd play on the beach and in the water there at Tybee for hours! That let her have some peace and quiet. Then we'd stop by the Sugar Shack on the way home and get malteds and milkshakes, and that would keep us quiet for the drive. Fun for all of us!

 

"That's a really nice memory."

 

Yeah, and it got other Savannahians talking about memories of their summers at Tybee. I really loved that! I'm glad that Asbury is one place where I'm not the only local gal.

 

"Me, too. And did you have any hot dog buns to bring home?"

 

Nope! All 16 of those buns got eaten! Good!!! Now, I'm going to take care of a few things here at home, like charging my phone. American Legion Post 36 is supposed to have its monthly meeting at 6 PM, so I'll stay in town until it's done, then head back to Stella. Good thing it's rainy, or she'd be upset about missing the party on the patio. Maybe tomorrow will have a sunny spot in it for her!