surprise from pembroke!

"Hey, I'm in town, wanna get coffee somewhere?"

That was the text message.

Here it was, a day that was crazy cold, that I'd already planned to stay in on to avoid the weather dip...

since I can't put a sock on my right foot... 

but this made me think twice abotu staying in.

This text came from a dear friend I'd not seen in years.

Yes, it was cold outside, but this was a special circumstance. 

The text was from my college friend, Rhonda!!!

She and I haven't seen each other since Andy and Sheryl got married.

Not that she was at the wedding.

She mentioned going out with Jeff for breakfast at the Original Pancake House, though I don't recall if that was before or after the other event.

She and I had first met with the Armstrong Masquers, probably around 1985, while I was working on my BA in chemistry.

That's us, sitting on the floor, side by side, front and center. 

The photo shows the huge group of us that worked on "Amadeus", maybe a year later.

What a cat-herding experience that had been for John 'Sooch' Suchower, our noble director! 

Hard to believe all that was four decades ago!

Anyway, to get back to my story about did I stay or did I go: I went!

She and I had such a great visit, too!

She was in town for a doctor appointment and Coffee Deli was close for her.

We sat in that warm space and talked for about two hours!

And when she told me she worked at the Kroger in Rincon, I asked if she knew about Hive Repertory Theater.

Nope!

Well, she does now, and maybe she can even get involved with that group.

I told her about their latest, the fruitcakes musical, and sent her the link to my post about it. 

For sure we'll make plans to go to their next play! 

I'm so glad she texted me!!!

learning from a brother's perspective

That's Paul Nordquist at the podium, speaking of his older brother.

As he talked, I kept drawing parallels between his experience and that of my youngest brother.

For both, there was about a ten-year difference in age with their eldest sibling.

What that really boils down to is the eldest leaving home when the youngest was only about 8 years old.

That means the eldest missed most of the coming of age of their youngest sibling.

I had not ever considered that.

I knew that Tony had loved me, even calling me his 'Little Mama', because he had me around much more than our working Mama.

That meant that when I went into the Navy and was gone for almost 8 years, he felt a bit deserted.

When Dick Nordquist had gone off to college and England, Paul felt deserted, too.

I honestly had never considered the effect of my leaving on my brothers.

I doubt 18-year-old Dick had considered that, either.

The realization almost had me in tears.

I was at the Celebration of Life for Richard Nordquist, dead at 75 years old.

Thank God for facebook, or I doubt I would have known.

I had friended him on that social site in mid-fall, just a few months ago.

I won't say that I knew him well, but he'd made quite an impression on me in 1995, when I pioneered distance learning for the chemistry department.

I talked about that experience with Paul before I left.

When I was teaching that CHE201 class simultaneously at Armstrong and the campus in Brunswick, I'd asked Dick if there was a way to record the lecture for students that missed it or wanted to review it.

"You bring the VHS tape and we can insert it into the feed," he'd told me.

For a literature and language professor, he was amazingly techno savvy.

I'd brought a tape with me to each two-hour lecture, then arranged for students to borrow the tapes from the school library.

I should have those lectures around the house somewhere, both the VHS form as well as on DVD, transferred by Jennifer Incorvaia around 2012.

I'm so glad that John Kraft had posted the invite for this gathering. 

 I had only friended John a couple of weeks ago.

John is the one who posted about this gathering at the Armstrong Ballroom, inviting all who knew Dick to convene for the afternoon.

I had the chance to speak with John before it all began.

Incredibly, he is still at the university, still planning to stay on for another few years, there in the psychology department.

I also had the chance to speak with my calculus professor!

Yes, Michael Findeis is still intact and still has his sense of humor!

That's him in the teal-colored shirt.

Glaucoma may have slowed him down a little, but he's still going.

Good for him!

Lea and Cliff Padgett were there, too, and I talked with them briefly.

I'll have to see what their link was to the Literature professor.

Then there's Leigh Rich.

She and I recognized each other right away, though we didn't recall what connection we might have shared.

I took our tenuous link as a reason to sit with her during the Celebration, as I dined on lasagna, salad, chicken with peppers, crusty Italian bread, and a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

We listened to the many tales of Dick from those who knew him -

his wad of keys to everything on campus... 

his shoebox-sized cell phone that he proudly toted around...

his love of the students and of those who served them...

his abhorrence of having to come in on Fridays, his one day off during semesters, for silly meetings and such...

his love of all language, including curse words...

his helpful nature and love of personal learning, as evidenced by his home library of hundreds of books.

That's when I recalled how I knew Leigh: she's the publisher who helped Josie with her book about her time in Ghana.

I made sure Leigh knew that Josie will be at the Book Fair this year.

Then I came home, to let my tears flow.

I wish I could have told Dick how much I appreciated his help back in 1995.

At least I passed that message to his brother.

i am edgar allan poe...

 

There's one thing for sure: one of those five people were lying.

Surely they were not all bequeathed with that moniker, especially as some were women.

Then, again, I've seen "Inside Out", so I understand about personification of one's strong traits.

In the case of the writer, 'despair', 'loneliness', 'sorrow', 'madness', and more, would be at least as familiar to him as his name.

Perfect!

I'm so glad I chose to see "Poe" tonight.

Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, cried out to be special for me, and this play by the Armstrong Masquers, with Jayme Tinti as its director, was the only place for me to be.

She told me as much, too.

During her introduction of the play, she spotted me in the front row at Jenkins Hall, taking that opportunity to tell all there that "Faustina Smith is the best audience ever" and that she'd known me since first coming to Savannah in 2012.

Isn't she fabulous?

Such a treat for me!!!

And before that, Pam Sears had come over to give me a hug for coming!

She said I'm the only retired Armstrong professor that supports the theatre.

Such a treat for me!!!

This one-act play contained more treats: a favorite Poe tale, plus one I didn't know.

 

"The Tell-Tale Heart" was the final scene and was appropriately dark and twisted for this evening's fare - very nice!

How very funny that I'd seen it just a few days ago on "Toon In With Me"!

Bill and Toony were having a show about Poe as part of their "Boo Bash".

Toony misunderstood and was wearing a Winnie the Pooh shirt  - LOL!

They made a short called "The Tell-Tale Action Figure" which was funny!

 

But it was this play that introduced me to "William Wilson", a truly dark tale, written by this master of the macabre when he was 30 years old.

Such a horrible, deceitful, character Wilson had been, right up until he met someone else who bore that same name... bwah ha ha!!!

Kudos to Heather, Cameron, Morrow, Stephen, and Noemi for a brilliant treat!

 

Now, I'm back to my warm house, snuggled in for the cold to come.

With the forecast calling for pain - I mean, temperatures in the low 40's - before the sun rises tomorrow, I've already blocked off the sun room.

 

Yes, the curtain is up, and I'll not be seeing those Butter Yellow walls for the next few months, not until spring.

Rather appropriate to have the ghost of summer in the house!

Bwah ha ha!!! 

(smile!)

such good fortune at the sound!

"At the sound of what?"

No, you misunderstand. "The Sound" is the name of the band I just heard after seeing "Good Fortune" with Carolyn.

"You went to hear a band? Was that over at Savannah Arts Academy?"

Nope. "The  Sound" is the name of one of the ensembles that are part of the Gretsch School of Music at GaSoU. They performed tonight at the Fine Arts Auditorium on Armstrong - and the concert was free! I tried to get Carolyn to go, but she wanted to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the cinema. We didn't have time to grab dinner between the end of "Good Fortune" and the start of our next events. I had hoped we would. She still had something to eat, though - I finally remembered to bring her the two bottles of Butter Pecan Ensure that I told her about months ago! She loved them, too!

'Very good. You've had those saved for her since the spring."

Yes, I know. This time, I knew she would be at AMC, so I made sure to bring them."

"And how was the concert you attended?"

It was fabulous!!! Three women and one man did most of the singing for the seven-member band. Olivia did those songs requiring a deeper tone, like "Living For The City" and "Live And Let Die". Elizabeth had a higher voice that worked great for "Black Velvet" and Toto's "Africa". Anna had just one solo, "Running Up That Hill", sung while she played guitar. Christian also strummed as he sang Jackson Browne's "The Road".

"Wow, what a great variety of songs! Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney And Wings, Alannah Myles, Kate Bush!"

Yes, it was, and I sang along with almost every tune they did! I think I surprised them with that. They stumped me twice with new artists. The very first song was Yola's "I Don't Wanna Lie", then again a couple of songs later with Laufey's "From The Start". I recognized the Joni Mitchell song, but I had to look up its name: "In France They Kiss On Main Street".

"Yeah, I don't think I would have known that one."

 Yes you would have, just not that funky name. I know you would have been singing along with Bonnie Raitt's "Angel From Montgomery", as well as Steely Dan's "Peg" - two of my favorites! Plus, they sang "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" - classic Tom Petty!

"Wow. That's quite a set list for a bunch of twenty-first century college students."

Right? I was so impressed! Can't wait to hear them again! Right place, right time!

sloth alert!

Recently, I befriended Richard Nordquist on fb.

"Isn't he the fellow you worked with when you were a pioneer of distance-learning at Armstrong some few years ago?"

The very same. I doubt he really remembers who I am, but he kept coming up as "someone you might know", so I went ahead and officially added him to my list of fb friends. And he, in turn, accepted my request and has added me to his list of fb friends.

"Okay... "

And, today, he posted the above image of a baby sloth cuddling up to a toy sloth, as well as a poem.  [Photo: A six-week-old orphaned two-toed sloth clings to a plush toy during International Sloth Day at the Panamerican Conservation Association in Panama City.
Photo by Enea Lebrun / Reuters / The Times]

"Oh, that's so adorable... and sad... poor little orphan."

Yes. Anyway, as I was saying, I've only recently friended him, so I stopped to read some of the comments. One was a person saying they'd never seen a sloth in person, and he'd responded about seeing one in a zoo... so I added my personal take. "Richard Nordquist, I would see them fairly frequently when I was stationed in Panama. They're extremely slow on the ground, and, about twice a year, they would cross from one side of the mangrove swamp to the other. If one was in the road, I would have to wait several minutes for it to get by before I could pass. Interesting times!"

"Interesting indeed! That was while you were at Galeta Island, right? During your eight years of being in the Navy?"

You go it! Panama was my very first duty station. I didn't mention it to Dick, but those animals are as large as a man when grown. Certainly not anything you want to run into with your car... or get out of your car to deal with in person. Nope! So, we all knew to let them finish their slow crawl across the road, whether it made us late to our shift or not. Better safe than wrecked in the swamp!

"What did Dick have to say about that memory you posted?"

Well, I don't know that he'll say anything, but he did "like" it. That's good enough for me! (smile!) 

flashback! 26 May 2012, in Italy

These all appeared on fb today as a flashback to the ten-day, three-city, vacation to Italy that I took with a group of Armstrong State University's nursing students.

Their purpose was to learn Mediterranean cooking and visit a hospital there.

My purpose was purely to revisit some of the places I'd seen in Rome in October of 2002, during my ten-year anniversary trip to Italy with my then-husband.  

My thanks to Victoria Lowe - one of the students - for having tagged me in these photos that she took as we traipsed around.

They're not in any particular order, just stream of consciousness.

(smile!)

 

Here we are, tromping around in the rain in Rome.

I'm visible only as the unseen person under the yellow-daisy umbrella.

The lone male is Nate, who had earlier proposed to Amber.

 

Tromping around in The Forum!

For the second time in ten years, there I was, walking around in the ancient ruins I'd wanted to visit ever since I was a teen!

 

Incredibly, we had Andrea as one of our Rome guides!

She was the same one we'd had in 2002!!!

Here I am, on this trip, in my multi-pastel windbreaker, listening to her.

Wow!

 

Here's another pic of us walking in the rain in Rome.

This has me up ahead, my butterfly tote bag over my shoulder, in my multi-pastel windbreaker, with an edge of my yellow-daisy umbrella barely visible.

Only the butterfly tote was new, bought to make me easily visible to the others in our group.

Between those three items, no one got lost -

not even me!  

(smile!)

 

And we're walking... that was our mantra, sung out to let all know we were on the move!

This time, we were in Siena, which had been the second city we stayed in.

That's where we had cooking classes at Arte & Cucina for three days.

That's Nate Brattebo and Amber just ahead of me and Shayla Edgell.

Nate was also always easy to spot in the crowd! 

LOL!

 

Here I am with Shayla again.

[The next year, I went to her bee-themed baby shower!] 

I'm the one with the neon-green sunglasses atop my head, of course.

Yet another item of clothing that made me visible to all!

We were having lunch, dining on fresh ravioli that we made - yes, us!!! - that very morning.

I was given the option to attend the classes with the nursing students, so I took it!

Glad I had that chance to make pasta!

 

Here we are, en masse, walking once more!

This is another day in Siena, this one warmer.

I'm in the lower right of the photo, neon-green-rimmed sunglasses in place, wearing one of my favorite tops: a lightweight, fuchsia-colored, sweater.

My butterfly tote was over my shoulder, as always, with a bottle of water and my glasses, should there be something to read.

 

Let's finish up with our first meal in Siena, at a favorite restaurant that Bob (our leader) always brought his tour groups to visit.

Yes, the wine flowed freely and was much enjoyed after the long bus ride from Salerno, were we'd been for the three previous days.

And the waiters?

They were all male, and they flirted and kept our glasses full for the whole time we were there!

That's Kate Faford I'm with, another of the nursing students.

None of them were my students, so all of them accepted me as one of their peers.

Coming home alone, and not hearing them call my name so often, took quite a bit of adjusting -

oh, what fun we had!!!

(smile!)

chelsea's pinning ceremony!!!

 

This is only the second Pinning Ceremony I've ever attended.

That's actually surprising, considering that I taught two semesters of chemistry to nursing students for 25 years, but that's okay.

I always knew they loved me.

(smile!)

The first time I went was in May of 2012, after returning from the trip to Italy with the nurses.

The highlight of that ceremony had been the lighting of the lamps, followed by all the new nurses reciting their nursing pledge.

I do so love pomp and circumstance!!!

This part of the GaSoU ceremony differed from that of the Armstrong State University in one way: the overhead lights remained on.

I had really liked having the lights dimmed, to emphasize the effect of the Florence Nightingale lamps, but it was still very nice!

 

And I am so proud of Chelsea Pippin for becoming a nurse!

That will be a career that will benefit her throughout her life!

I'm glad she persevered through the four-year program to obtain the Bachelor of Science of Nursing, as that degree has some clout.

Better than that, though, is she will be able to get work at any hospital, not just the ones here in Savannah.

That will be beneficial should she and her husband move somewhere else.

Right now, she is starting off St. Joseph's/Candler, right here in town, in their Mother/Baby ward - that was exactly where she wanted to go!

We were all there in force to cheer for her tonight - oh, yes!

We took up three rows in the house left: Dillon with his mom and sister in the first of the three; Poppa Matt and Grammy Melinda, separated by Leila, with Christina and Anthony ending the second of the three; then me sandwiched between Miyah and Chloe, with Michael and Alyssa capping off our row.

 

What a wonderful evening with family, with most having driven in from Guyton and Hinesville, wearing Sunday clothes!

I even wore a dress, even though I'd only been out to the cinema beforehand and went right back out again when the ceremony was done.

I'd hoped for a family dinner together, but they all ate before they came.

That's okay: it's Tina Tuesday, so I had popcorn for lunch and I'll have another cameo popcorn special for dinner.

Such a good life!

Congratulations, dear niece, Chelsea!

I am so proud of you!!!

(smile!)