If you're a regular reader you know my daughter's a grad student at Savannah College of Art and Design, otherwise known as SCAD, and that I visit whenever I can. This winter I count myself very lucky to spend two months here in beautiful Savannah, escaping the Minnesota winter and all that entails.
The often-photographed fountain in Forsyth Park The Garden Buzz
I guess it's ironic that this Minnesota winter, unlike last year's record-breaking one, has been relatively mild and pretty much snow-free! And in the past few days, it's already been summer and winter here with me walking in a 13 degree wind chill this morning. It's so funny to see Savannahians in Ugg boots and parkas.
Still I'm excited to be "living like a local" down south. I'll be back to my usual courtyard-snooping and square-sitting, and sharing my photos soon.
I hope to explore and share more pictures of nurseries and historical gardens too. Can you believe it, the camellias are already blooming!
I've got lots of garden writing work to do while I'm here. And my daughter is starting her thesis. Let's hope we can be disciplined enough to get our work done and a little fun too.
The journey down here included Henry-dog and the trip was not without it's moments. My car decided it needed a new differential the same week we were leaving. With winter weather to avoid and a wedding to make too, we went with plan b and drove my husband's smaller car, mailing our clothes ahead.
It's a two-ish day trip if you push it, but with the dog, we made it in three, with time for Hannah to visit friends at Mizzou and then a little time for good food in picturesque Franklin TN, where you never know if you might run into Jack White or Ryan Gosling. We didn't, but it's fun to imagine them hanging around in this cute little country-western village just outside of Nashville.
Henry-dog isn't the best car tripper. He likes to whine about not getting to sit in the front, bark at strangers and stand up the entire time so as not to miss a single thing. The rest of the family insisted he would settle down, but two days in, we braked at a pet store and bought a little something called Comfort Zone. It's a spray that mimics the pheromones produced by nursing mother dogs. Miraculously, it calmed Henry down quite a bit. Not enough to lay down for more than 30 seconds, but enough.
I am pleased to say that Henry's recent stay at "boarding school" has helped him to control his enthusiasm and contain, as Hannah describes it, his "zest for life", in order to be a proper Savannah-walking-dog now that's he out of the car. This is important since Savannah is extremely dog-centric and you'll learn the locals not by their name but more than likely by their dog's.
Meanwhile here's what I saw in the rear view mirror for 3 days.
Poor baby.
