Rosy glow, glowing enthusiasm and something nice

Rising by Bob Trammell

- With the return to Eastern Standard Time, my commute begins in the dark and ends with the sun just risen. The sky yesterday morning has a rosy glow that might signify rain is coming. And it has.

- The glowing enthusiasm of friend Charlene as she puts together a group of people who will learn ballroom dancing on Friday nights, and a big chuckle at the last line of the latest email, "Please contact us if you have any doubts about dancing."

- An emergency room visit with my dad (he will be OK) and smiling at how he always finds something nice to say to health care workers who are in and out of his room. He gives a startled look to a nurse with fuschia streaked hair, but says, "Petra - what a pretty name."

Peaceful, historic and late bloomers

- A quick trip on Saturday to my hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia, and stopping by the sun dappled Sacred Heart Catholic Church to sit for a few peaceful moments in its rose garden.

- This historic church was completed in April 1874 and contains handmade pressed glass windows that had been in the Lafayette Hotel which originally stood on this spot. Local author Flannery O'Connor attended Mass here.

- Late blooming roses give off a delicious fragrance. The sculpture of the Virgin Mary has a plaque that reads, "In memory of Mary Frances d'Ambrosio. Say one Hail Mary." I meditate for a little while and head back north.

St. Joseph's, spectacular and petit paquet

- Rising 200 feet into the air, the twin cross-topped spires of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Macon, Georgia, catch my eye from an office building nearby. The church, built in 1889, is even more beautiful at ground level.

- Attending a "meet and greet" at Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, an organization devoted to better hearing and vision in Georgia. This dress was part of a "spectacular" event this year in which student fashion designers created dresses, using parts of eyeglasses, for a fundraiser fashion show.

- Receiving this "Petit Paquet" from a friend in Canada, via another friend in Texas. I am delighted to receive this unexpected package in the mail and open it excitedly outside. The book, "Quite a Year for Plums" is by Georgia author Bailey White. I like this notion of a traveling book. And I can't wait to read it!

Wishing you all good things this weekend!

Yikes!, small world and journey south

- Yikes! This tree beyond the pool area at my condominium complex, looking for all the world like a big fright wig.

- A small world moment: running across a childhood friend's name on the internet. She is a consultant to a group I am affiliated with. They moved away and my parents lost touch with hers. The last memory I have of her family is of our mothers sitting under a tree in their yard watching all of us play.

- Walking around the back of the printing company, a co-worker has the warehouse door open. He tells me of a few moments earlier when hundreds of starlings stopped by out back, alighting on the trees and the fence for a rest. The warehouse door opening spooked them and they took flight again on their journey south. The best thing: that he knew I would love hearing about it.

Anticipation, there in spirit and looming

- Attending a play at this theatre, often referred to as The Fabulous Fox. Five exhausted women decide collectively during intermission that we can figure out how this one is going to end and slip out, anticipating a few minutes extra sleep at home.

- Earlier, still miles away on errands, I am running late for a pre-show dinner with the Fun Girls. While I am still an hour away, one of them reads the menu to me by cellphone. She says it feels as if I am sitting at the table.

- Smiling as I can the see the lights of the city looming ahead and picturing my friends at the restaurant table and knowing exactly what cocktails they would be having: an in-house beer (since we were at a brewery restaurant), a Cosmopolitan, a glass of red wine and a glass of white wine. They raise their glasses in salute as I finally arrive, dinner, laughter (and a Mojito) waiting for me.

Yoo hoo!, thought and never too late

- After all these years, finally trying the chocolaty drink Yoo-hoo - a co-worker brought them in as a leftover treat from a party at her house. Too many calories, but so good.

- Emailing niece Amanda that I had a Yoo-hoo and thought of her. My dad used to put one in her stocking at Christmas. Her answer, "oh my gosh i love yoohoos!!! i haven't had one in a long time either. I just might have to go get one today :)"

- A favorite quote and personal motto, displayed in the photo above: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot (aka English novelist Mary Anne Evans - 1819-1880)

Morning light, lingering and a wink and a smile

- The time "falls back" to Eastern Standard and the morning light seems particularly fresh and vibrant on Sunday morning.

- The night temperatures turned crisp and inspired fireplace activity all around. The scent of wood smoke lingers in the air.

- Later at church, serving communion to a favorite elderly congregant who always sits on the back row, she mouths "hey dahlin'" and gives me a broad wink and a smile.