Summer Scaries

It isn’t difficult to follow Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice these days. “Do one thing that scares you,” I can almost hear her directing me. As she did when I first left the continent alone. Easy peasy! These days. It’s all quite scary. When the status quo is heartbreak, almost everything is a little bit frightening. But I don’t want to let sorrow tether me. So here I go!

On Wednesday, I scared myself up a date! Mr. Lamb took me up to the rooftop to meet his friend Garett Hatch. He’s wonderful! And he kept a promise G made to me 6 years ago last Sunday. Six years ago, we were on the way to Society Garden to see Linqua Franqa when he looked at me and said “I know lots of people. Lots of cool people. But if I introduce YOU to someone, it’s because they are good people. Kind people." Mister Hatch is a good egg. He asked for a hug with the exact amount of charm one would need to successfully persuade me to leave on a world tour tomorrow - as if that was my heart’s desire all along.

Ripe for a Loving Botanicals placement AmIRight?

The Rooftop is STUNNING! 

Turns out… you just add an erotic breeze and a setting sun to a group of talented musicians several stories in the air and you’ve really got something. By the time the spell started to wear off, we were almost home. So the fear of a giant boulder crushing our car at Hawthorn and Oglethorpe, or getting a call that someone was in the emergency room, or finding out that someone I care about has been unfairly critical of me, or the likelihood that I’ll choke on a piece of my own tooth - - those things could only hold me hostage for a couple miles. But everything, and I do mean everything, feels fragile right now. Because we lost our cheerleader and that is not something I can write about yet. But I can’t write at all without acknowledging it.

All in one piece and no worse for the wear, I let it roll Thursday and rendezvoused with a long-time kindred over Sangria & Seafood Charmaine at DePalma's. Plus an ample serving of ladyfingers, espresso, and mascarpone! There’s nothing I cherish more than seeing someone I love settle into themselves. And her approach to the table made me exhale. Twice! And yes, of course the panic tried to creep in when I wondered what I’d ever do without her. But I turned that down faster than a howdy of Jameson and settled deeper into the booth so that I could enjoy her until they kicked us out and locked the doors.

On Friday, I almost didn’t have the courage to get a Mammogram. But The G Man chauffeured,  Piedmont made it easy, and the diversity in the waiting room made this former Volunteer Clinic Coordinator’s heart take a running leap into the weekend!

A precious reminder from an even more precious friend!

It was a weekend of early mornings, farmer’s market + estate sale finds, and a three day quest to compile the perfect burrito: sauce of roasted tomatillos/serranos/garlic/poblanos and a hint of crema, crispy rice, loaf pan chicken, slow-caramelized onions, shredduce, and corn cut from the cob. Snuggled up with the best cheese I could find in a 12” tortilla - size matters and I’ll tell you where to get them if you ask nicely! On Sundays, Gordon has the New York Times delivered so that he can read me the Modern Love column. Now, we also put Gigi’s Church on tv. And check in with Mariah, the first Athens friend Twenty-Four-Hour-Party-Pooper Dot-Com ever introduced me to.

Not going to lie I REALLY need Hubble to find this piece of wood.

On Monday, I found out that I don’t have Breast Cancer. Good thing we made so much progress organizing the basement! I’m going to need somewhere in Athens to study, create, and... stay. in. my. magic! I wouldn’t mind a mocktail lounge either.

Scary season came early this year. But I plan on giving the butterflies a run for their money by Rumpus!