ice cream as summer nears!

First, let's start with the dessert, shall we?

Most assuredly, YES!!!

Mickie Townsend was holding the bowl with three scoops of vanilla ice cream as I approached the table.

Yes, please!!!

Farther down, someone was waiting with caramel syrup and chocolate sprinkles.

That's perfect!!!

There were other choices, but those two toppings, and that flavor of ice cream, were exactly what I wanted.

I even made sure to bring little Lactaid pills with me for the occasion! 

This was the first public performance for the VBS kids and the ice cream social was to lure in folks who weren't their family.

A free musical at Asbury Memorial Church?

Of course I was there!!!

I even clapped along with the "Snowball Mountain Challenge" songs.

Next year, I intend to be a volunteer again.

I've missed being part of VBS! 

And I did mention something about summer coming up, didn't I?

Well, that's for real, as the WSAV weather song confirms.

It's practically a monotone, but there are some slight temperature shifts.

I guess that makes it more of a chant than a melody!

Speaking of chanting, the physicist is off doing that right now!

He calls it "Sesshin" and it's in Minnesota/Wisconsin, which is confusing, as I am sure it is only in one state.

He'll be going from that Buddhist retreat to his gal in Ohio, so I won't see him until sometime in July.

Meanwhile, I've busied myself with errands today, like depositing an actual check in the bank. 

I don't get many of those!

This one was from a settlement that AARP had with someone in California about video privacy protection.

Thanks for including me and others in that suit!

That $96.56 doesn't sound like much, but it will buy me entrance to four plays or musicals or concerts.

Thank you!!!

While I'm expressing my gratitude, let me give a shout-out to Zaxby's!

They gave me 50% off on any order and I used it for this Grilled Chicken Zenzations Zalad.

Talking to my stepmom last week about Conner's graduation brought to mind our meetings at the Zaxby's or Wendy's in Bluffton from time to time.

This salad was one of our favorites.

Trust me, it fills the take-out box; I took out half for tonight's dinner.

Yes, that means I had my dessert first!

(smile!) 

That ice cream sure was good as an appetizer!!!

(smile!)

this little light of mine, i'm gonna let it shine...

I made sure to be at church today.

This was VBS Sunday and I wanted to see the children perform their songs and dances from "Discovery On Adventure Island".

I also wanted to be there to stand up when all the volunteers were asked to make themselves known for recognition. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that part didn't happen.

Instead, after the children's presentation, and after they left for Sunday school, we got a sermon about Pentecost. and the beginning of the split of the followers of Jesus from Judaism.

It was a good sermon, it truly was, but it didn't seem to fit with the songs about being a "Night Light" and encouraging others.

On my way home, I took a different route and saw Sonny Maness in his yard.

He and I had a brief romance my senior year of high school and still speak any time we see each other.

He's 71 now, and recently had a bad fall from his electric bike, so it was good to see him out and about.

He was doing what I did when I got home: mowing the yard before the rain.

I managed to get all of the front done before the Ryobi ran out of energy.

Good for me!

I finished up as the first drops of rain splattered around me!

After a bit, I decided to go to a movie.

Not just any movie, either.

I wanted one about light versus dark, good versus evil, and the thin line between.

"Sinners" was perfect.

As always, I stayed through all the credits for those few frames at the very end, those scenes with Miles Caton singing a bluesy version of "This Little Light Of Mine".

That song has always been dear to me, made even more so when my beloved Uncle Jimmy told me the song always reminded him of me and my bright outlook on life. 

Such a perfect finish for this rainy, bluesy, day.  

helping others, gift for me from strangers

I deliberately left this weekend 'light'.

That means I didn't have myself booked solid.

After all, it is a holiday weekend and invitations may arise from thin air...

and so they did.

i thank You, God.

One of those invitations was to the second work day for the upcoming VBS at Asbury Memorial.

I spotted the call for volunteers on fb, so I made a firm plan to be there.

Yes, even though it was to begin at 10 AM on a Saturday.

I made it by 10:30 and was promptly put to work by Tim Steinhausen to cut the kraft paper that would be used to protect the stage from paint.

 

Then I helped JayJay in his quest to make a sixteen-foot paper snake out of slips of neon green construction paper.

We developed an assembly line, with him drawing a design on each slip, then me curling the slip and stapling it in place for a reticulated beast.

We finished it, too, and I even fashioned a head for it!

 

I also helped Linda Combs with the mock-up of the Tybee Lighthouse that she was creating form duck cloth, black felt, and a triangular metal stand.

 

JayJay and I also made 'algae' from long strips of dark green plastic cut from tablecloths.

Karen Townsend also made 'algae', but from a lighter green plastic.

Then Bridget Kincade hung those long strips from the ceiling in both back corners of Holliday Hall, artistically creating an underwater area - very nice!

 

Meanwhile, Tim put Karen's son, Bernard, to work painting the 'ocean' onto the paper covering the stage, setting JayJay to helping with that.

 

By the time we left today around 2:30 PM, the stage had an 'ocean', a lighthouse, a couple of palm trees, and even a dock for the boat which was to be built.

Such fun!

I'm glad I was there to volunteer my services!

 

I wasn't home an hour when Christina called. 

She was in town, with Anthony, who had driven two people from Pooler out to Greenwich Cemetery to visit family.

Oh!

I had thought of going there when I left Asbury, but hadn't.

Off I went to meet up with them... and we passed each other on Bonaventure Road, them leaving as I was going in.

She texted to say as much, then added that they were going to Carey Hilliard's on Skidaway if I wanted to join them.

That's exactly what I did, too, after cleaning up shredded flowers for Mama.

(smile!)

 

Marie and Will were the couple Anthony had chauffeured, and that had been their first visit to his brother's grave in four years.

She was my age, he was 78, and they'd been together for over a decade.

I made myself sociable, sharing stories with them from my day of being creative, from my time in the Navy, from my time at college, from my own family there at Greenwich.

We five really did have a lovely time there together!

How do I know?

We were there for two hours!

And, at the end of the meal, Marie and Will insisted on paying the tab for all of us.

How very considerate of them to include Christina and I with their generosity!

I even came home with food: half of Anthony's shrimp salad and about a third of the large order of fried onion rings.

That latter will go into a frittata in tomorrow's breakfast!

Thank you, Marie and Will, for these unexpected bday67 gifts!