Remlerville: What's Happening in the Remler Family

A Word or Two about Words

2012-02-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Today I received in the mail an article my mother sent me from (I think) The Macon Telegraph. It's titled "Useful, But Not Used" (by Cassandra Spratling of the Detroit Free Press), and it's about a collection of words that have fallen out of use over the years from the English language. Wayne State University, the article says, "has released its fourth annual list of 'remarkably useful words that deserve more chances to enrich our language." This year's list consists of the following words:

Antediluvian: old fashioned or out of date, based on the Latin words for "before the flood." When I tested my high school senior, the one who took three years of Latin, on this word, he didn't know the meaning. My tuition dollars are hard at work, I see.
Erstwhile: This word means former or bygone, but the article notes this word is rampantly misused. I wonder how it can be rampantly misused if it's hardly used at all. Maybe Wayne State will get back to me on that.
Execrable: This is one I have never used. It means atrocious or wretched. Makes sense. The sound of the word is pretty atrocious itself.
Frisson: I had never heard of this word. It means a sudden, involuntary shiver, I guess the kind one experiences when a rabbit runs over his grave. I can see how this word has fallen out of use. Shiver seems to do the trick for most of us.
Penultimate: Here's the word I think should be labeled as rampantly misused. I hear sports announcers use the word often when they want to describe a sport or accomplishment that's the epitome of such sports or accomplishments. Actually, it means next to last.
Sisyphean: My Latin student kind of knew this one. He remembered who Sisyphus was. So he gets half a point for that. But because of the mythological context, he guessed the word referred to someone who rolls a rock up a hill. Close. It means endless and futile, such as my attempts to get students to stop using the term back in the day or omigod.
Supercilious: My twelve year-old guessed this word meant silly. Nope. It means contemptuous, disdainful, or condescending. I think one would have to be a little supercilious to use the word supercilious, but maybe that's the kind of graduates Wayne State wants to have.
Transmogrify: Everyone in my house defined this word correctly, thanks to years of enthusiasm for the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Actually, my twelve year-old missed the definition by just a hair. He thought it meant for someone to turn into a tiger.
Truckle: It rhymes with buckle, and it kind of means the same thing. To truckle means to kowtow or submit to obsequiously. Someone in the house thought it referred to a baby truck.

This article was a fun vocabulary lesson, and now that I've refreshed my memory of a few words and learned a few others, maybe I'll actually try to use them in everyday conversation or when I write. And if my son ever decides to attend Wayne State, I'll encourage him to drop some of these little gems into his papers. As I read this list, though, I thought of other words I'd more readily like to see used more often:

Reduce, alleviate, decrease, ease, or diminish: I'd like to see any or all of these words in written form to replace the insipid popular use of the verb lessen. When did the adjective less decide to become a verb? There are already a number of more precise verbs hanging in the wings just ready to be used.
Insipid: I just like the way it sounds. And so many things in this world fit that descriptor. Like Justin Bieber songs.
Feet: As in the measurement. Too often I hear people refer to how long or tall something is, and they use the singular, as in twenty foot. The plural form is getting a little lonely.
Granted: Too often people, usually young ones, claim that someone has taken them for granite. It makes me think of someone being held ransom for a statue.
Administer: I think it sounds so much better than administrate, don't you?
Thank you: That one can't get used enough. Just sayin'.

I'm sure many other seldom used words could get added to the Wayne State list. Actually, if any devoted readers have words they'd like to add to the list, they can do so at the Word Warriors website: http://www.wordwarriors.wayne.edu.

Fa La La La La

2011-12-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone, and once again, the Remler family had a splendid holiday. This one was a little different because now that the boys are older, they're getting more involved with the giving as well as the getting. Take, for instance, this handsome Big Green Egg stand that Davis built for Stephen:

Stephen was surprised and pleased, and I was impressed

by Davis's craftsmanship.

Lawson's contribution was two temperature gauges for the Big Green Eggs,

and Stephen, true to form, cooked a roast beast for our Christmas dinner.

Yum!

Of course, the boys did enjoy getting gifts too, and they got plenty of them, most of them having to do with camping and hunting. Davis got a fine set of waders, which he tested out in Kelley's swimming pool. Lawson got several knives, pocket and otherwise, for use on his hunting expeditions. Stephen was delighted with a propeller, a pair of sunglasses, and some new shoes.

What did I get?

A meat grinder!

Now I can grind up the venison Lawson brings home from the great woods.

Later on, JoJo, Pop Pop, and Aunt Bea came by for a visit so they could marvel at the Christmas bounty.

In the Remler family, Christmas doesn't end on December 25th.

Oh, no.

On Boxing Day, we gather again at Tybee to roast oysters, play games, catch up with old friends, and, of course, eat.

This year, we enjoyed visiting with the Tuckers, Aloysius, Sherry and Harry, Viviane and Max, Alisha, and all the extended family.

Kelley invited all to enjoy the oysters Stephen roasted.

Later we decided to see how many people we could fit on a couch.

Jelly won the game of Left, Right, Center.

And the bumper pool table got lots of mileage.

Even Clorox had a merry Christmas.

He's always easy to please.

Just give him a box, and he's happy.

The Boys Are Back

2011-12-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

Stephen, Davis, and Lawson departed early Friday morning for a long weekend of camping, hunting, and manly revelry in Kingstree, SC. Though they left Friday, their minds had been in Kingstree since the day after Thanksgiving, so when the big day arrived, I couldn't wait for them to leave. But after five days by myself on Wilmington Island, I was kind of ready for them to come home.

They're back now.

They must have had a really good time. I've never heard so much bathroom humor come out of Stephen in my life.

Of course, Davis and Lawson's excitement came from their enthusiasm for hunting. Davis has enjoyed duck hunting for the past two or three years, and he couldn't wait to shoot some of those feathered beauties out of the sky. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of dry. Apparently, ducks prefer to fly in the rain. So Davis only got to shoot about two or three. The mother in me can't help being a little glad about that. I had requested that he take photos before he plucked the feathers of the birds, and Davis was kind enough to remember.

But the bigger news was that Lawson shot his first deer. Lawson's just entered the hunting world a year or so ago, so I was not expecting him to exhibit such marksmanship so soon. He sure surprised me. Uncle Bob was kind enough to take photos. Unfortunately, darkness had fallen by the time the deer got to camp, so the images are rather dim. But I think readers can make out Lawson and the deer (Lawson is the one wearing the glasses).

With the bottle of wine in the foreground, this second photo makes it look like the deer just had too much to drink.

Now we'll have deer for dinner several nights this winter. If any readers have some good venison recipes to share, feel free to send them our way. I'll have the crock pot waiting.

This is What Happens When Lawsons Get Together

2011-12-11T13:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the annual Lawson Christmas reunion, which took place, coincidentally, on Bobbie's 98th birthday. She would have enjoyed the food, conversation, and fellowship as much as we did. Typically, we can expect to laugh, eat, and laugh some more as we catch up on what we've been doing over the past year.

Here's what happens at the Lawson family gathering:

This is what happens when Tom Peterson roasts the oysters.

This is what happens when you tell Harley he can't have any more chicken.
(We were just kidding.)

This is what happens when Tom Peterson builds a cozy fire.

The women just flock to it.

This is what happens when Harriet tells a story.

This is what happens when B.B. tells a story.

While the women are telling stories,

the men go outside.

This is what happens when Lawson gets home.

It was an active, fun day for everyone. Many thanks for Nancy and Tom Peterson for hosting the party this year. It was so good to see everyone again. Let's hope it's not a year before we see each other again!

Sigh

2011-12-03T16:13:00.001-08:00

As I write this post, the SEC Championship is still underway, but I've decided to stop watching. I can't stand to see anymore. LSU is leading 28-10, and while I am not surprised by the result of this game, I don't want to watch the gap between these two scores grow any wider.

I've been watching this game from my hotel room at the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando, Florida. I'm in town for a SACS/COC conference. Coincidentally, on my drive down here, I stopped in Palm Coast, Florida to have lunch at the Steak n Shake, and who did I run into in the parking lot? Tom and Judy Mahoney! They were also on their way to Orlando to attend different meetings (Theirs sound like more fun). They invited me to have lunch with them (how nice!), and we had a bit of football talk.

Mr. Mahoney's prediction: He thought LSU would win, but he hoped Georgia would make a good showing against the no. 1 ranked team. I wonder what his assessment is at this point. Here's mine:

Georgia's defense rocked in the first half. By halftime, Georgia had gained a total of (I think) 137 yards. LSU had gained 12. LSU didn't achieve a first down until the third quarter--which is when they also achieved several touchdowns, but that's too painful to talk about.
Unfortunately, Georgia's offense suffered for several reasons
- Richard Samuel's foot is still so injured that he didn't even dress out for the game.
- Isaiah Crowell is not fully recovered, and even though he played here and there, it was obvious his ankle was not well enough for him to make a difference.
- By the second half, LSU was no longer surprised by Georgia's plays, and they covered Aaron Murray like syrup on pancakes, which...
- Forced Murray to run with the ball, and he's just not prepared for that. He eventually fumbled the ball (it was just a matter of time), but at least when he did, he had both hands on the ball.
- Georgia's offensive players looked like they'd rubbed olive oil on their gloves. Boykin fumbled two punts. Tevarres King and Malcom Mitchell let the ball slip through their fingers a number of times. Not good.
- After LSU scored in the third quarter, our offense looked like they'd just given up. Sad. Sad.

So it looks like LSU is the SEC champion as well as the no. 1 ranked team. They'll go to the NCG, but who will host the Sugar Bowl?

Mr. Mahoney and I had an interesting conversation about that today at lunch. He says that his son (Tom III) says, that his grandson (TJ) says that even if Georgia wins today's game, the Dawgs will not be able to go to a major bowl game because only two SEC games can play in one of the five major bowls. Well, that doesn't sound fair to me, but it's a moot point now because Georgia's losing.

But just for kicks, I looked up the bowl game selection guidelines from the BCS website. According to those guidelines, “The champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East,Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern conferences will have automaticberths in one of the participating bowls through the 2013 regular season.” Not only that, but the guidelines also state that "The top two teams in the final BCS Standings will be placed inthe National Championship Game ("NCG")." Those two teams are LSU and Alabama (two SEC teams.Hmm.) But "unless they qualify to play in the NCG, the champions of selectedconferences are contractually committed to host selected games:

Atlantic Coast Conference--Orange Bowl
Big Ten Conference--Rose Bowl
Big 12 Conference--Fiesta Bowl
Pac-12 Conference--Rose Bowl
Southeastern Conference--Sugar Bowl"

So if Georgia had won the SEC Championship game, the Dawgs would have been required to host the Sugar Bowl. Wouldn't that have been nice? Oh well. But now what happens with LSU? Well, the BCS guidelines address that: If a bowl game loses its host team to a national championship, "suchbowl shall select a replacement team from among the automatic-qualifying teamsand the at-large teams before any other selections are made." So if my reading is correct, the Sugar Bowl can invite another qualifying team, perhaps from the SEC or another conference, to host the Sugar Bowl. I wonder what that team will be.

According to the bowl projections of ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Brad Edwards, the Sugar Bowl will be between Michigan and Houston. Georgia, according to one sports psychic (Edwards) will play in the Capital One Bowl against Nebraska. Mark Schlabach picks the Outback Bowl for Georgia against Michigan State.

Well, they certainly know the BCS better than I do, but I think the Sugar Bowl should have an SEC team playing in it, ans since Alabama and LSU are both tied up, why not Georgia? Just sayin'.

Whatever bowl Georgia plays in, I'll watch. I want to finish out the Georgia season. In the meantime, I have another sport to learn: basketball. Lawson's on the 7th grade team this year, so I think I should know what I'm doing when I yell, "Rebound!"

Stay tuned...

Yellow Jackets Got Stung

2011-11-29T15:49:00.001-08:00

I was expecting Georgia to win Saturday afternoon. After the train wreck of the season's start, the Dawgs have pulled themselves together into a winning team. We already knew they'd be going to the SEC championship next weekend, so the win over Tech was just icing on the cake. It's always fun to beat Tech. But that's all I'm going to say about that. Some people in my family who grew up in Atlanta fancy the Ramblin' Wreck. So I won't rub their noses in their loss too bad.

Instead, I'll comment on a couple of things I noticed during Saturday's game.

Tebowing: It's the practice of taking a knee and praying in the end zone whenever one scores a touchdown. I guess this weekend it's appropriate to thank God for a score, though I think there are more important things to be thankful for. But now, players on other teams are Tebowing as well. When Tech scored their first TD, the player Tebowed. J.D. says that when players Tebow, they're mocking Tim Tebow, but Harley said some players are trying to emulate him. I don't really care which it is, but I think that once your last name becomes a verb and blogs are dedicated to it. you've made quite an impression.
Speaking of Tebowing: I think the officials need to make a decision about what players can do when they're happy. For instance, Sean Williams made a beautiful pass interception, but then he got a penalty because he spiked the ball before he jumped up and down in celebration. It was the spike that cost the Dawgs the yards, not the whooping and hollering, which I thought were more conspicuous than throwing the ball on the ground. But then let's consider what is allowed and disallowed in the end zone. One cannot dance after a touchdown. One cannot spike the ball after a touchdown. Those behaviors are unsportsmanlike conduct. But one can fake a prayer after a touchdown. I just find that kind of odd.
But what I think is more odd is that whenever Aaron Murray finds himself having to run with the ball, he waves it out to his side, holding it without only one hand as he does so. That drives me crazy. I know next to nothing about football, and even I know that's a precarious grip. I've been waiting for him to fumble. Fortunately, that hasn't happened, and I hope the first time doesn't occur next weekend!

See what I mean?

And this photo doesn't even display his typical grip.

Usually that arm is straight out to the right, and he's waving it around like a traffic cop.

So next weekend, Georgia takes on LSU in the Georgia Dome. I am really looking forward to that game, but I'm a little bummed out that I have to go to Orlando that day. Stephen says the game starts at 4:00. Maybe I can get to Orlando and check into my hotel room before the game starts? Hope so. I can't take notes while I'm driving and listening to the radio.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-29T15:33:00.001-08:00

So much happened over the last weekend that I've had a hard time thinking of a title. In fact, so much happened over the weekend that I had to think about it for a little while before I wrote a blog posting. We had a delightful Thanksgiving with family, followed by a fun day at the farm, followed by a wienie roast, followed by a winning Georgia football game! The Lawsons and Remlers certainly enjoyed many blessings.

The Remlers traveled to Hawkinsville, Georgia for a Thanksgiving feast on McCormick Avenue. After filling our tummies with turkey, we played croquet, and Davis gave the grown-ups a ride in the wagon.

Then Uncle Dave went out to the farm, just to see what he could find, and he shot a deer! So we had to go out there and help him carry it to the truck. That made for an exciting evening.

The next day included a morning fishing tournament (J.D. won) and an afternoon shooting extravaganza. Lawson, Davis, and Dawn did most of the shooting. I made the targets.

That night we dined on wienies and smores, cooked to perfection over an open flame. Yum!

Well, anybody who's read this blog for any amount of time knows how Lawsons like flames. The photo below speaks volumes.

Nuff said about that. After a thrilling Thanksgiving and post-thanks holiday, we arose on Saturday morning ready to watch some football! We gathered at Harley's house to watch the game. I'll reserve my commentary for the next posting.

The End of an Era

2011-11-23T05:59:00.001-08:00

In 1989, Stephen Remler bought a brand new Chevy Silverado. It was loaded: power steering, power brakes, power windows, power locks, even a cassette deck! State of the art! It was snazzy.

That truck drove us not only on many dates, but also through our marriage, the birth of two boys, a dozen moves to new houses (not to mention moves for other people's houses), graduate school, all the way to Davis's driver's license. It brought home Christmas trees, cords of wood, furniture, and bicycles.

In this photo, Stephen is loading Ben Remler's Christmas present,

a sand box, into the back of the truck.

1991

When Stephen first bought the truck, it was navy blue with a silver stripe along the side. Years went by, and the truck began to show wear and tear. It was the victim of a few reckless drivers, not to mention a four year old. One morning Stephen went into the garage to find Davis playing there. "What are you doing out here?" Stephen asked.

"Oh, I'm sanding the truck," Davis replied.

Here's Dawn conversing with Davis, who is

playing in the back of the Lucky Truck.

1995

This was when it still had a stripe.

Shortly thereafter, the truck got a new paint job, and from then on it's been solid blue.

Although it was Stephen's primary vehicle for years, once we had children, it moved to secondary status. Still, we put the miles on it. And others did too. Whenever friends needed to haul something to the dump or home from the furniture store, they borrowed the truck. And that's how it got its name.

By the mid 1990's, the truck had a huge dent on its side. Paint was peeling from the top, and the air conditioner worked when it felt like it. Still, the truck was good for many heavy duty jobs, and when friends' cars broke down, they used the truck as temporary wheels. Oddly enough, when the truck decided to break down, it always did so while others were borrowing it. So they fixed it for us. How lucky!

We used the truck to move into our first

house at 106 Neva Avenue, 1990.

But that wasn't the only thing. The truck has also been stolen. At the time, though, it wasn't getting much use. Stephen didn't even know about the theft until the police called him one day. "Do you know where your truck is?" they asked.

"Obviously I don't, or you wouldn't be calling me," Stephen replied. "Where is it?"

It was in a ditch on Mills B. Lane, stripped of its tires and its batteries, the windows bashed in. Nothing of value was in the truck to be stolen, and insurance paid to repair it--even the dents and peeling paint that had been there for years. How lucky!

From then on the Silverado became the Lucky Truck.

And it was lucky in other ways too. Every year on Saint Patrick's Day, we managed to get a prime parking spot along Abercorn Street, and we put our coolers, jackets, snacks in the bed of the truck and sat on top of it to watch the parade.

Saint Patrick's Day, 2007

During the Beach Bum Parade on Tybee, we lined the Lucky Truck's bed with plastic and filled it with water for the kids to reload their water guns. Ever since Davis was old enough to talk, we've told him that was the truck he would drive, and at sixteen, he got his license and took the wheel of the Lucky Truck, which he used to pull his boat, drive to school, and host tail gate parties at BC football games.

Now 22 years and 300,000 miles later, the Lucky Truck is moving on. Davis now drives Clifford, the Big Red Truck, and the Lucky Truck is moving on to another's driveway. I'm sad to see the truck go, but happy that it will have a good home. Stephen says we might see it around from time to time as he has sold it to one of his painters.

It won't be the same though. Bye bye, Lucky Truck! You're a good truck!

A Sad Day for College Football

2011-11-21T11:02:00.001-08:00

When Larry Munson was announcing Georgia football games, I didn't give much attention to the sport. I knew his voice because I'd hear it when Stephen listened to ball games, but because I wasn't a sports fan, I didn't think much about Munson either. Ironically, now that he's gone, I feel a little bummed out. After all, he was a beloved, important part of Georgia football.

But Larry Munson's death isn't the only sad news in SEC football today. According to Matt Hinton on Rivals.com, Arkansas redshirt freshman Garrett Uekman was found dead in his dorm room yesterday. The cause of death has not been reported, but whatever happened, the Razorbacks are mourning the loss of one of their teammates.

It's a sad day for college football.

Sigh.

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

2011-11-20T04:14:00.001-08:00

I have a confession to make. I missed much of yesterday's Georgia game against Kentucky. I woke up yesterday morning at 5:00 and couldn't go back to sleep, so by the time Stephen and I sat down for an afternoon of football, I was beginning to fade. I did watch the first half an part of the third quarter. After that, I watched the backs of my eyelids.

Today I slept all the way until 5:22, so with much more rest to fortify me, I examined this morning's sports page to see what I'd missed. I'm glad I fell asleep. Not that I'm poo-pooing the Dawgs' second half touchdown, which sealed the game for Georgia. It's just that most of the second half displayed what I saw in the first: Georgia's offense struggled, and its defense earned a gold star.

Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald summed up the game with a grade report (it was syndicated--at least across Morris News papers, so you may have read this piece already). I thought it aptly portrayed yesterday's performance (at least what I saw of it), but I have some comments of my own:

Players of the Game: Clarkson identifies Jarvis Jones for his "seven tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble that set up Georgia's lone touchdown and a pass breakup." Yep. And on top of that, Jones has finally managed to keep his helmet on the entire game. Thumbs up to that. Clarkson also credits Blair Walsh for hitting "four straight field goals" which "account[ed] for 13 of Georgia's 19 points." He follows up with the comment, "The special teams have certainly stabilized the last couple of weeks." Fair enough, but I suppose I'm not so generous with my praise because Walsh did yesterday what should have been doing all along. When your head coach describes your performance as "scary" after the Florida game, the only direction you can go is up.
Play of the Game: Clarkson lauds Jarvis Jones again for his third quarter tackle: "Jarvis Jones sacked Maxwell Smith and forced a fumble that Christian Robinson recovered at Kentucky's 10-yard line. Three plays later Georgia scored its only touchdown of the game to lead 19-10." I have to take Clarkson's word for it because I was asleep at the time, but if that tackle is the play of the game, then the play of the first half was Branden Smith's beautiful pass interception, which has been largely overlooked by the press. Clarkson simply writes that Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith "had pass interceptions." Now, he does give the passing defense an A- for their performance, but Smith's interception deserved a bit more atta-boys than it's gotten. So I'm putting it here: Way to go, Branden!
Rushing Offense--C+: I thought that grade was generous, but maybe Clarkson is considering Isaiah Crowell's ankle injury. Add that to Richard Samuel's injury in Jacksonville, and that puts some holes in Georgia's offensive game. And to top that off, my new player to watch, Carlton "Skeeter" Thomas was a no-show. Sports announcers reported that he was away "for personal reasons," but Clarkson's article reports that he missed the game "after violating team rules." If that's true, then I'm perplexed. Last week's stunning game against Auburn was Thomas's way of apologizing to the fans for his game suspension that let him down. Note to Thomas: After you've made good on a past offense, it's not the best decision to violate team rules again. Could you just keep your nose clean until after the bowl games? Can you manage that much for us? Huh?

So whether I agree with Clarkson or not, Georgia met its goal to beat Kentucky, thereby qualifying Georgia to go to the SEC championship. Congratulations, Dawgs!

photo by David Goldman of the Associated Press

Now we get to play LSU. I always like when Georgia plays LSU because the game makes for some meaty football talk with my favorite LSU fan, Jack. Get ready, Jack!

Once again, we'll be playing Tigers. Recently, Stephen and I conversed about how many football teams are named after felines. We've already played Kentucky Wildcats, and Auburn Tigers. So this morning I surveyed Georgia's opponents and categorized them, and as it turns out military officers are represented more often than ferocious felines, at least on our schedule:

Military/Vocational Personnel: Vanderbilt Commodores, Tennessee Volunteers, New Mexico State Aggies, Mississippi Rebels
Poultry: Carolina Gamecocks, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Copycats: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Other Sundry Animals: Boise State Broncos and Florida Gators
Bugs: Georgia Tech Yellow jackets

Unexpected Victory

2011-11-13T08:29:00.001-08:00

The Dawgs beat Auburn 45-7 yesterday. Whoda thought? Before the game, my attitude was, "I think we can win this one." I was not expecting the near shutout between the hedges. And it was a lot of fun to watch.

As Stephen says, "It's a lot more fun to watch the Dawgs beat Auburn by a lot of points than it is to watch them beat New Mexico State by a lot of points." I agree. Richt's Bulldogs plucked that War Eagle.

Not only did I enjoy watching the Saturday afternoon beat down, but I learned some important football concepts at the same time. And for that, I must thank my friend Cyndi Billac. Not only does she know her football, but she knows how to explain it to football idiots like me in a way that I can understand it.

Faithful readers already know I've been a little perplexed by the kicking game. Lately, my questions have revolved around the reasons receivers let the ball drop instead of catching it. I thought they were being sissies by avoiding a tackle. But Cyndi set me straight.

"When the kicker kicks the ball," she explained, "it goes way up in the air, and then it comes all the way down. All that time, the receiver has to stand there at watch it come to him. But all the while," she continued, "players from the opposing team are running toward him ready to tackle him when he catches the ball. They've built up a lot of momentum, and he's standing still. A tackle would be a train wreck."

A little light bulb started to illuminate above my head.

"Instead," she explained, "he waves to the referee, which means he doesn't intend to run with the ball. Haven't you ever seen him wave to the referee?"

No, I hadn't noticed that before.

"That's called a fair catch," Cyndi explained. "And that means the line of scrimmage will be where the receiver catches the ball."

So that little bit of knowledge gave me something to look for yesterday afternoon. And sure enough, I saw Brandon Smith and Brandon Boykin wave at the referee for fair catches during the game. So I have learned something new, and I will no longer criticize football players for being afraid of tackles.

Other observations from yesterday's game: Photo from ajc.com

While I will always have a little place in my heart for Richard Samuel, I am also developing a little affinity for Carlton Thomas. Number 30 may be little, but he's fast, and he can weave through a pack of defensive linemen like nobody's business. While Isaiah Crowell finally showed some stuff in the second half, Carlton Thomas made fans proud every time he was on the field. He runs around like a little mosquito out there. Look at how much shorter he is than his teammates. I hope we get to see more of him. Chris White of the Athens Banner Herald reports that Thomas wanted to say he was sorry for last week's suspension. "I really feel like I let all of our fans down who have supported us since day one," he told White. "And the only way I felt like I could get them back on my side was to come out here and have a good game."

Okay, Carlton. You're forgiven.
I was glad to see Richt alternated kickers for the field goals yesterday. Blair Walsh did all right, but I think it was a good move to let Bogotay (another Brandon) step in too. The only problem with that was by the second half I started forgetting whose turn it was to kick. I guess that'll happen when the team scores that many touchdowns. Nice problem to have.
I suppose everybody's favorite moment was Bacarri Rambo's pass interception and touchdown. "Hopefully we made a statement with this game," Rambo told Associated Press's Paul Newberry. Yes, I think they did.

And now, if Georgia beats Kentucky next week, the Dawgs will go to the SEC Championship. I think Mark Richt can put his resume back in the drawer for now.

I Posted Too Soon: Those Bushes Took a Beating

2011-11-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

If you've read my previous entry, you'll notice I posted too soon. For the first, oh, ten minutes of the game against the New Mexico State, it looked like the Aggies might actually give the Dawgs some competition during the homecoming game.

Unfortunately, the bout was not the nail biter

that David Goldman's AP photo suggests.

After I hit the "publish" button, Georgia scored touchdown after touchdown, bringing the score to 49-3 at halftime. So the game was not as exciting as I thought it would be, and I wonder: Did it demonstrate the point I made about Isaiah Crowell? Sure, the Dawgs could hold their own without him yesterday, but how much of a measure was yesterday's game? By halftime, I felt like I was watching the Dawgs take on Hawkinsville High School.

The most exciting parts of the game to me happened in the first half. First Tavarres King attempted to catch a touchdown pass. He missed, and then took a tumble, which sent him straight into the hedges. It took him a few minutes to come out, a little scratched up, maybe, but otherwise fine. Just a few minutes later, Aaron White did make that TD for Georgia, but like his teammate, he couldn't control his momentum at the goal line. Fortunately, he managed to leap over a Redcoat's xylophone before landing head first into the hedge. It took several Bulldogs and a few trainers to pull him out. I'm sure the groundskeepers were shaking their heads with woe.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Still, after watching six touchdowns in the first half, I decided I had better things to do with my time. So I went downstairs to work out. Then after taking a shower, I went to 5:30 Mass and deposited my envelope in the basket so that Father Roll Call can count me present one more time.

The game ended at 63-16. Well, I'm glad for the Aggies that it wasn't a blowout. Next week we play Auburn. That ought to be an exciting game. I hope we get to see more of Brandon Harton in it.

Oh well, Crowell

2011-11-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

What did I say at the end of my last post? Just to save readers from scrolling down, I'll remind them. I anticipated that some winning Dawgs would go out in Jacksonville and celebrate their win over Florida, but I also hoped they'd keep their noses clean. Well, apparently Georgia Bulldogs don't read my blog, because the next thing I knew Isaiah Crowell, Carlton Thomas, and Ken Malcome had been suspended from one game for failing a drug test.

Maybe they got hit in the head once too often, because anybody with a lick of sense would know that after a win over the Gators and a night on the town, he would have to pee in a cup. I hope when those three players got home, Mark Richt gave them a taste of this:

Oh well. Now this afternoon, we're without our #1 (at least on his jersey) running back. What's more, poor Richard Samuel, after his day in the Florida sun, limped off the field last Saturday, and now he's out for the season, unless he can return for a bowl game (I'm really disappointed about that. I wanted to watch Samuel play some more).

Thank goodness today's game is against New Mexico State. The Aggies. Makes sense. During two games we played against chickens. Now we're playing farmers. It's not like we're up against a top-ranked team while our key players sit on the bench. At the same time, as I write this posting, we're in the first half, and the Aggies are picking up some yardage in Sanford Stadium. This game might not be the gimme lots of Dawgs fans might be expecting

Still, I hope the Dawgs put a hurtin' on the Aggies, if for no other reason than to demonstrate to Isaiah Crowell that he's not all that. So who do we have left to show him?

The Brandons--Boykin, Smith, and Harton: Smith has already scored our first touchdown, and Boykin just gave us a beautiful run. And right now, the red shirt sophomore from Reidsville is probably thanking Isaiah Crowell for making a stupid decision. He's running the ball like his pants are on fire, and he just scored Georgia's second touchdown.
Tavarres King: We'll see what he can do. So far, he's managed to get stuck in the hedges, but he's performed for us before, so he just might do it again.
Orson Charles and Marlon Brown: ditto (not about the hedges, but about the other stuff)
Michael Bennett: He scored us some points last week. Maybe he'll earn us some more today.

It's not even half time, and the Dawgs have demonstrated that Aaron Murray can depend on more than the running back with a bad weave.

More after the game

Noise

2011-10-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

The last time I went to the Georgia-Florida game, I was about 19 years old, maybe 20. The year was 1985, maybe 1986. I had a rocking good time. But Georgia didn't win.

But yesterday, thanks to Bruce Remler's generous offer of four tickets, the Remlers went back to Jacksonville to watch the Dawgs take on the Gators. And this time they won, as everyone north of the Florida line could probably discern from the noise coming out of Jacksonville.

That was one loud game.

Unfortunately, Georgia doesn't win the contest against Florida very often, so I was glad we were there to witness one of the victories. And the 24-20 score was just the icing on the cake of a great day.

Tailgating

Our day started out early, as we headed south down I-95, with a stop in Brunswick to pick up the fried chicken. Upon arrival in Jacksonville, Stephen immediately began scouting out parking spaces. I was a little hesitant at first. After all, I didn't know where the stadium was, and I didn't want us to park across town from it. Forward thinking, though, Stephen was anticipating the post-game traffic, and he thought it wise to put some distance between us and EverBank Field so that we wouldn't get caught in a glut of automobiles. And that's when we saw these guys on the sidewalk urging us to park in their lot.

"How far away is the stadium?" I asked.

"It's just over that viaduct," one of them replied, pointing to a car-covered bridge. "Not quite a mile."

Fair enough. But we were on the far side of a three-lane street. How would we get over to his lot?

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll stop the traffic for you." And he did. Once we pulled into his lot, we discovered we had stumbled upon the Historic Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church (established 1866). The men operating the parking lot must have been from the church's men's association. They could not have been nicer. "Here's your parking tag," our new host said. "And here's a map to the stadium." He pointed to a bus stop not ten feet away. "You can ride the shuttle from here, or you can walk down Duval Street. And if you need to use the facilities, just go through that door under the awning." He pointed toward the church. "We'll be here during the game watching your car until 9:00."

Sweet! I was planning not to drink anything all day because I fiercely avoid stadium bathrooms. But with open access to the Historic Mt. Zion AME Church (est. 1866), I could drink both of the beers Stephen had packed in the cooler for me! So we set up our lawn chairs, broke out the fried chicken, and relaxed until game time. Davis and Lawson tossed the football around and even made a few friends.

After consulting the weather forecast, we brought rain gear with us, but we realized that we wouldn't need it, so after a satisfying lunch and a trip to our squeaky clean facilities, we hoofed it to the stadium.

This was my restroom.

Isn't it nice?

I think I had to share it with four other women.

The Fans

EverBank Field, formerly Alltel Stadium, was huge, but easy to navigate. We quickly found our seats in the Georgia end zone and watched the Dawgs warm up. Of course, we experienced the typical stadium seating phenomenon. Staudium rows are typically somewhere around 26 seats across. As spectators arrive at the event venue, the fans in seats 1, 2, and 3 and in seats 24, 25, and 26 arrive first. Then they spend the next hour standing and sitting like jacks in the box while everyone else arrives or leaves again to visit the facilities or one of the stadium's many fine concession stands. Without fail, the fans occupying seats 12 and 13 arrive two seconds before the kickoff, stepping on everyone else's toes, dripping Coke and spilling popcorn, as they stumble to their seats in the middle of the row.

During this twisted game of musical chairs, we familiarized ourselves with our neighbors. For instance, the guy at left wouldn't stop dancing. Between each play, when music came on the loudspeaker, this guy got up to bust a move. I wondered if he thought he was on Candid Camera. Or maybe Star Search.

And then these well fed sports fans made no bones about their opinions that Isaiah Crowell is overrated. As it turned out, Crowell's injury, resulting in Richard Samuel's moments of glory, indicated that these fellows had a good point.

And then when this whipper snapper....

opined that Mark Richt should be fired, this fellow....

jumped out of his seat and declared that he might be 70 years old, but he could still whip the young man's behind (he used a different word, but I try to keep this blog family friendly). Fortunately, surrounding Dawgs fans calmed him down, but the Remlers were gearing up for some exciting entertainment. Still, we were puzzled by the hot temper. After all, newspapers have been speculating about Richt's job security for a year now. It's always a topic of conversation at a Georgia game. Maybe that man was Mark Richt's father. Who knows?

The Game

And then the game began, but only after a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" sung by John Oates, half of the eighties music sensation "Hall and Oates." We never learned why Hall never made it, but Oates was able to carry the tune on his own.

Georgia received the ball first, and there ensued about a fifteen minute possession, during which the Dawgs did not score. No surprise. We've seen all that business before. But then Georgia kicked off the Florida, and a Gator caught the ball and ran it 85 yards for a touchdown! Florida's possession lasted about six seconds. Our defense got very little field time, and by the end of the first quarter, I was rethinking my stadium seats and wondering whether I should just go back to the Historic Mt. Zion AME Church (est. 1866), where I could listen to the game on the radio and at least enjoy a clean restroom. But I stayed. And during the first half, while the Dawgs did manage to keep the Gators at bay, the first and second quarters were a round of creep-zip-creep-zip.

And what was up with Blair Walsh yesterday? Was his foot on crooked? I would understand missing the goal if he were kicking from the fifty yard line, but when he's only fifteen or twenty yards out and he still misses--twice--one has to wonder whether he ate his Wheaties yesterday morning.

But his underperformance might have been just what Georgia needed. After all, even I know you can't win a football game three points at a time, so with slim chances of earning those fourth down field goals, the Dawgs must have realized they had to score for real.

Enter Richard Samuel.

Now, loyal readers know I've kept my eye Richard Samuel since the 2009 season. Newspapers touted him as the player to watch, so I did just that. Unfortunately, he's had his ups and downs as a Bulldog. Failing to live up to his potential in 09, he warmed the bench more than the gridiron. By 2010, he had practically disappeared, and I wondered if he was still on the team. Apparently, he's improved his game this year, and I've been delighted to see him more on the offensive line. But yesterday was his day. After three years of watching him struggle on the field, I finally got to see Samuel score! And not only that, but I saw him make the touchdown that turned the game around.

And the tension heightened. At 24-20, the Gators couldn't rely on a fourth down field goal to pull ahead again. They needed a touchdown. Georgia's defensive line played well, and all of a sudden, it was the Gators, not the Dawgs, who were creeping down the field.

Fourth quarter was also when I discovered this interesting tradition:

At first I wondered why people wanted to buy four tickets when they were already in the stadium. But then Stephen explained that fans do this at the opening of the fourth quarter, I suppose to signal a last minute resurgence of energy. "It used to be like magic," he said. "But now it doesn't do anything at all."

At least until last night.

Not only did Georgia hold Florida back, but with seconds left in the game, Richard Samuel came just inches away from another touchdown. So the Dawgs let the last few seconds lapse, and then the celebration began on the field.

Even Mark Richt joined the party, although I don't know what's up with him in the photo below. He looks like he's about to slug one of his coaches. Maybe he was asking him to dance.

There was lots of hopping in that end zone. Good for the Dawgs. Stephen and I agreed that Coach Richt probably let his team go out and have a little fun last night. I just hope that if they did, they kept their noses clean. The last thing Georgia needs right now is a player getting arrested. Waushaun Ealey did enough of that to last the team several years. I also hope the coach advised the players not to pull an A. J. Green and sell any jerseys. The Dawgs need to keep up their momentum and avoid pesky legal distractions.

Richard Samuel certainly earned some bones for the back of his helmet. And I hope his teammates bought him a beer. As for Blair Walsh, I hope someone took him to Lenscrafters.

More Photos

The Florida side of the stadium emptied in a hurry.

Go Dawgs!

Stephen and the Member Member

2011-10-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Many Saturday mornings, if the weather is good, Stephen likes to go to the Wilmington Island Club to play golf in the Saturday blitz. Sometimes he plays well; other times he plays not so well. But he's pretty good. And he's made a lot of friends on the golf course.

Unfortunately, when this fall came around the club announced that its member-member tournament would be the weekend of October 8th. We already had plans to take the kids to Six Flags, so Stephen didn't sign up for the tournament. But then the club changed the date of the tournament. As it turned out the weekend of October 8th occurred during Rosh Hashanah, so out of respect for its Jewish members, the club post-poned the tournament to this weekend. Fortunately, Stephen was available on those dates. Unfortunately, all the members he knew in the club had already partnered up for the tournament. He called his golf buddies, who called their other golf buddies, to find out if anyone needed a partner.

Fortunately, Shammah Baloch's partner got a hernia. Well, it wasn't really all that fortunate for Shammah's partner, but it was fortunate for Stephen--and Shammah too, I guess. So Stephen stepped in a week or so prior to the tournament. And for his birthday, which was the Thursday prior, he bought himself two new golf clubs.

All was well.

Stephen attended the tournament dinner Thursday night, and he reported that a number of participants took advantage of the open bar. So he felt good about his chances for Friday's match. What's more, Shammah went out and bought himself and Stephen these Power Balance bracelets, which are supposed to give them, well, power and balance. Stephen was willing to try anything to give him an edge during the tournament, so he put on his bracelet before departing for the course.

When he returned home, I asked how he'd played. "Right now, we're in first place," he reported.

"Wow," I said. "That's great. What if you win?"

"I'd like that," said in his usual, understated Stephen Remler way.

"What's the first prize?" I inquired.

"A gift certificate."

"For what?" I really have to pull answers out of my husband. He's not one to toot his own horn.

"The pro shop."

"For how much?"

"A hundred fifteen dollars, I think," he answered.

Hmm. That sounded like an awful lot of golf for a hundred dollar gift certificate. "How much did you pay to enter the tournament?" I asked.

"A hundred bucks."

Okay. Perhaps he was just playing for the fun of it. And who am I to talk? I took the SAT for the same reason. And Stephen bit his tongue the whole time. So this weekend I bit mine too.

So Saturday morning, after breakfasting on a delightful ham and veggie omelet with pepper jack cheese, Stephen took off, armed with his Power Balance bracelet for the golf course (I can't say for sure, but I think he slept in it). It was a beautiful day, and I hoped he'd have a lot of fun. I expected him to return at about 4:00 or so. He didn't walk in the door until about 6:00. He was carrying a cardboard box.

"How'd you do?" I asked.

"Shammah and I won," he said, pulling a beer out of the fridge.

"You won for your flight?" I asked. "That's great."

"No," he corrected me. "We won the whole thing!" Then he opened his cardboard box and pulled out his trophy: an engraved crystal bowl with a few droplets of beer in it. Apparently at the tournament's end, the players filled the bowl with beer and asked Stephen to drink from it. He says he had only a few sips. I believe him. He prefers a frosty mug.

I thought it was great that he got a bowl along with his gift certificate. But then he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. As it turned out, Stephen had placed a few side bets during the weekend. And not only did he and Shammah win the tournament (with scores of 60 on Friday and 62 on Saturday), but the also won all the skins (I don't know what skins are. I suppose they're bets), and he won the closest to the hole on #11, which is a par 3.

That's one powerful bracelet! I think Stephen's golfing skills had more to do with his win, though. One thing's for sure: he won't have to call around looking for a partner next year!

Davis and Friends in Televised Greeting to the Bishop

2011-10-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Davis and some of his classmates, along with some students from Saint Vincent's Academy, offered a greeting to the new Bishop Hartmayer on the day of his ordination and installation. I didn't get to see it air, but fortunately, Pam Veiock at Benedictine sent me a copy of the video. Davis is the one in the front, the first boy to speak:

Eighties Day

2011-10-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

This week is homecoming week at Saint Peter the Apostle School. Like many other schools, SPA celebrates the event by designating costumes to each day of the week. Tomorrow is eighties day. Lawson announced that at supper tonight, giving us very little time to prepare an authentic eighties costume. Stephen still has his parachute pants in storage, and nobody knows where the family's only Members Only jacket has gotten off to. So what can we do at the last minute to help Lawson look like he popped out of my high school yearbook? We thought of a few options:

At first we thought of styling his hair like that dude from the hit new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. Unfortunately, Lawson's hair isn't long enough in the front. If it grows more overnight, we'll be set.

With his hair's current length and color, we could always spike it up and make him look like Billy Idol. I think that's a great idea, but Lawson says he doesn't think he can keep his lip curled like that all day.

Walgreen's is still open, and I could quickly pop over and get a bottle of red hair color so Lawson could dress up as Johnny Rotten.

But my favorite option--also the easiest to put together and most comfortable to wear--is Tom Cruise's wardrobe in the famous dance scene of Risky Business. I think everyone, especially the girls, will like that outfit!

But Lawson wants to wear his white tee shirt and a leather jacket and go as Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Fair enough, but I think he's going to get tired of having a girl hang on his shoulder all day.

What do you think? I've uploaded a poll on the right hand side of the blog. Post your votes now!

Georgia versus Vanderbilt: Now That Was a Fun Game to Watch

2011-10-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

For the first time in several weeks, I was able to sit down and really focus on a football game. I'm glad it was Georgia versus Vanderbilt. It showed me so much I'd never seen before. After reviewing all my notes, I wondered how I would ever compile them all into a coherent posting. Here's what I came up with:

Opening Conversation

Just before the kickoff, the conversation in the living room went like this:
Me: "Blair Walsh is wearing black socks."
Lawson: "So?"
Me: "Are all the players wearing black socks?"
Blair Walsh kicks the ball and the game begins.
Lawson: "Who cares what color socks they're wearing?"
Me: "I do. Black socks with silver britches makes the players look like retirees."
Lawson: "How?"
Me: "Because they're wearing black socks!"

I think that was the moment Stephen got up and got a beer.

More about the socks later. For now, I want to make an observation about...

Coaching
Fox Sports South had a survey going on during the first half of the game: Who has done the best coaching job in the SEC East? The choices were Will Muschamp (Florida), Steve Spurrier (South Carolina), Derek Dooley (Tennessee), James Franklin (Vanderbilt), and Mark Richt. Announcers posted the results during the third quarter, and respondents to the survey overwhelmingly chose Mark Richt. He got 81% of the votes.

Really?

After all the complaints about last year's season and all the talk since Labor Day about whether Richt should be polishing up his resume, sports fans last night still thought he's done the best coaching job in the SEC East? I find that hard to believe. Stephen made a good point. The survey took place during a Georgia-Vanderbilt game, so the only people calling in would be either Georgia or Vanderbilt fans. But still, most of the people complaining about Richt over the last twelve months have been Georgia fans. I guess most of us have changed our minds. I didn't call in a vote, but I'm not so sure I would have voted for Richt last night. Here's why:

I saw only one gutsy move last night on Georgia's part: the wildcat play inthe first quarter (more about that later). Other than that, the only difference I saw in the Dawgs' performance was that it wasn't the Isaiah Crowell show. In fact, he sat out the whole first quarter (more on that later too), and other players got more field time. As a result, Tavarres King, Orson Charles, Marlon Brown, and even Richard Samuel got to show their stuff a little more. But other than that, the Dawgs' strategy seemed to be same ole same ole. By the fourth quarter, Georgia had just gotten sloppy, letting their score creep up three points at a time with field goals, and they really put themselves in jeopardy by allowing Vanderbilt to run 95 yards to a touchdown. And in the first quarter, Georgia had so many holes in its defense it looked like Swiss cheese. I'm not sure I'd credit Mark Richt for the best coaching job in the SEC East after that display.

But then look at James Franklin's team and all the sneaky little moves they pulled: faking a punt, passing the ball behind the back, blocking Blair Walsh's kick in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt may not have won, but they came close, and they tried all kinds of creative plays in the process. Somebody coached them to do that. Hmm.

New Football Knowledge

I've also learned some things about football I didn't know before. For instance, right after a beautiful pass interception, preventing Vandy's score, Brandon Boykin and Aaron Murray switched places, something Lawson said was a wildcat play. The center snaps directly to the running back so he can run the ball down the field. Fair enough, but I think the wildcat play is more effective when it works. This one didn't. Stephen says it's because the offensive line isn't used to hearing Boykin call out the play; they're used to Murray. Well, if a different voice is going to confuse the offense that much, what is the point of the wildcat play? I'd like some commentary from my readers, please.

And here's a penalty I'd never heard of: substitution infraction. It's when the team has twelve members in the huddle when the huddle breaks. Twice I saw officials counting heads on the field, once counting red helmets, and the other time counting black helmets. Apparently, a team can have twelve men in a huddle, but there can only be eleven men once the huddle breaks. So that means at a point in the game each team forgot to do roll call before breaking into formation. And I can't say as I blame them. They've got enough to worry about on that field before having to stop and say, "Wait. How many men are here?" It seems to me that as long as only eleven guys are lined up before the snap, everything's chicken. Who cares when the twelfth guy runs to the sideline? But that's just me.My readership may disagree or feel inclined to clarify for me.

Football Fashion

Now back to the players' uniforms:

No.

Yes.

No. Well, not usually.

As you read above, I was taken aback by Blair Walsh's black socks. They seemed so...I don't know...so Fort Lauderdale First Methodist Church Bingo Night. But my problem wasn't so much Walsh's sock/shoe combination as it was the lack of uniformity on the team. Some players wore black socks; others wore white socks. Some players wore black socks with white shoes; others wore white socks with black shoes. It seems to me that if the Georgia Bulldogs can motivate Nike to give them brand new uniforms to wear in the season opener (although thank God those rags went back into the closet after that game), they can also inspire someone--Nike, New Balance, Reebok, somebody--to give them shoes and socks that all look alike. As the second diagram above shows, the socks should be black. But the diagram omits the shoes. I think black shoes and black socks will complement the silver britches well, but so would white shoes and white socks. But white shoes and black socks? Not so much.

But the socks were nothing when contrasted against the pink wrist bands many (but not all) players wore to show their support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Even Mark Richt wore the pink accessories. Now, I realize I'm skating on thin ice when I say this, but those pink wrist bands look bad with the University of Georgia uniforms. They look even worse when those wrist bands are worn on players' knees (I saw several of those too). While I admire the team's willingness to show their support of Susan Komen for the Cure, I think it's better to say that The Georgia Bulldogs are aware of breast cancer. Then let them play ball. Again, it's not just the pink wrist bands that bug me. It's the lack of uniformity. The team should make a decision to wear them or not wear them, but with only some players wearing pink in their arms, the team looks like the guys just threw outfits together at the last minute. Kind of like Natalie Portman at the Golden Globes.

The pink/red combination has never really done anything for me.

Finally, the hair:

See the hair flopping around at his shoulders?

No.

Same team. Same number, even. Different hair.

We can even see Branden Smith's neck in this image.

Yes.

The Dawgs have a bye next week. That'll give some players time to get to the barber shop.

After resting up a week, the Georgia Bulldogs will travel to Jacksonville to play the Florida Gators. Guess who'll be there also? The Remlers! I'm looking forward to that sports report!

Siblings, Six Flags, and Sports! Oh My!

2011-10-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

The challenging part about having a great weekend is writing about it the following Monday. In fact, I found the past weekend so packed with fun that I had to take Columbus Day off and write about it on Tuesday. The Remlers took a road trip to the metro Atlanta area for a fun weekend with siblings, then took a side trip to Hawkinsville before heading back to the coast. It was a fun-filled weekend of siblings, Six Flags, sports, and shotguns.

Siblings
Dawn and Jim Taylor graciously hosted the Lawsons, Neffs, and Remlers for a dinner and sleepover at their lovely home in Lawrenceville. We played corn hole and ate hamburgers while we enjoyed catching up. We couldn't believe how much Hannah has grown up! Such a lovely young lady. And Gretchen is just as precious as ever. She and Sydney stayed up until the wee hours, then got up for more fun at 6:30. Dawn and Jim were so generous to host the gathering on the eve of their 17th anniversary, and we hope they enjoyed their romantic dinner out on Saturday.

Six Flags
Suffice it to say that we all had a great time. The weather was perfect, and while the park included sufficient rides to keep us entertained, I was especially amused by the people. For instance:

We encountered this man while standing in line for the mini mine train. It's a kiddie ride. But he chose to go on it. If you can't make out the tattoo on his head, it's a fuel gauge. It's set at almost empty. At least he chose an appropriate graphic.

This woman paid good money to have her hair done this way. And then she walked around the park like that all afternoon. Nuff said.

Okay, let's just set aside the fact that the hat looks stupid. It was eighty degrees outside. Why did she need it?

But the most amusing person I saw at Six Flags was seated two seats behind me on the Dahlonega Mine Train. I couldn't tell if he was having a good time or scared to death.

Maybe a little bit of both.

Sports (Otherwise Known as Football)
After a full day in the park, Sabra and Martin invited us to their house for pizza and a comfy place to view the Georgia game. The Dawgs beat Tennessee. That's good. I did not write down the score. I think it was 20-12. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

My opinions about the game might seem a little strange. That's because I was watching the game with Sabra. Much of the time, I had my eye on the TV, and I kept up with the score, but I was also talking to her about kittens, Weight Watchers, and knitting. Watching football with Sabra; is pretty fun, though, because it makes me feel a little better about my football naivete. For instance, I'm starting to recognize the players. I know that the offensive #1 is Isaiah Crowell while the defensive #1 is Brandon Smith. I know that #7 is Orson Charles and #22 is Richard Samuel (who actually got some more field time this week. Yea!). I think that's pretty good. Sabra, on the other hand, has sports dyslexia. During the second quarter, Aaron Murray threw a pass to someone (I think it was Isaiah Crowell, but I'm not sure), and the pass was incomplete. The official ran out into the field and gave us this signal:

And of course, we were all disappointed at the result of Murray's attempt--everyone except Sabra, who said, "I don't understand why everyone's so mad. The referee said he was safe!"

So you see why the game was so much fun. Unfortunately, because of the lively conversation, I didn't pay much attention to the third quarter, and I should have because that's when the Dawgs earned six straight penalties for holding. And they were at what, first and 54? I think that was right. Anyway, it was a crazy quarter, but I was busy trying to explain to Sabra that she should be interested in Richard Samuel because he reads. So to comment on that third quarter, I'll just quote my father: "For two years, we thought Georgia's problem was DUI's. Now we know it's holding."

That sums it up.

Do you know what else Georgia has a problem with? Helmets and chin straps. I know. I seem to have a complex about it. But every time I watch the Dawgs play, they've got something going on with the head gear. Last year it was all about the mouth guards. They couldn't seem to leave those things alone. They're in the mouth; they're out of the mouth. In, out, in, out, until I saw one player tuck his mouth guard behind his sweaty, grimy ear. Gross. This year, for the first several games, the Dawgs had trouble keeping their helmets on. And I was glad to see that for the Tennessee game, they'd finally found their chin straps. That is, until I saw a shot of Blair Walsh chewing on his like a piece of white beef jerky. Mark Richt, if you ever happen to read my blog, will you please tell your players that they are on national television, even when they're on the sidelines? There's enough happening on the field for sports writers to point fingers at. No need to give them more fuel for ridicule while standing on the sidelines. I can see the headlines now: "Hungry Dawgs Eat Uniforms."

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Shotguns

The next morning, the Remlers loaded up for the ride south, with a midday stop in Hawkinsville for lunch with Hugh and BB at the Steak House. During our tasty lunch, Hugh said, "I know what we can do after lunch. Let's go move a piano!"

We all thought that sounded like big fun, so we went to his house to do just that.

Then we all went out to the farm to help Lawson set up his science fair experiment. His topic was the difference in the spray of shot when using different chokes on the gun. That's Greek to me, but it makes sense to Lawson. He conducted the experiment. Stephen set up the targets. I took the photos. Hugh pointed his finger for clarification.

That was an especially big help. Thanks, Hugh!

We arrived home Sunday night, tired but satisfied with a fun weekend. Thank goodness for the Columbus Day holiday. We needed a day to rest up from all the fun.

My Favorite Dawgs Live in Savannah

2011-10-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Note: In this posting, I distinguish between two football teams in this manner: Mississippi State will hereinafter be referred to as the bulldogs. Georgia's team, of course, will hereinafter be referred to as the Dawgs.

The 2010 season was so dismal that I try not to think about it. So I had forgotten that the Dawgs lost to Mississippi State last year. Obviously, the bulldogs didn't forget. After pregame warmups, the bulldogs gathered on the big G in the middle of the field at Sanford Stadium. Then they jumped up and down. You would have thought they all got together and shouted a "Your mama's so fat" joke to Mark Richt.

Apparently, jumping on a G is much worse. According to Charles Odum's Associated Press article this morning, "The teams had to be separated at midfield at the end of pregame warmups. Georgia players accused the Mississippi State players of jumping on the "G" logo which stretches almost 20 yards at midfield." Well, if that's the accusation, I guess the bulldogs are guilty. But who knew such behavior would rile the Dawgs up so much? Linebacker Christian Robinson is quoted in Odum's article as saying, "You just can't do that...You just don't jump on somebody's symbol."

Oh. Okay. I didn't realize.

After all, all kinds of other things have happened on that symbol. Players run all over it weekly. Tackle each other too. They probably spit on it. And during the 2009 season, I saw an LSU player vomit on it.

But they didn't jump. I guess there's a big difference.

Well, now I know. And it's a good thing too because according to Charles Odum's article, the Dawgs were throwing chairs in the locker room they were so angry. And that anger showed up on the field. Georgia's defense was tackling bulldogs like they were in combat. And whenever a Dawg downed a dog, he jumped up and down, punching his fists in the air, probably yelling "Woot, woot!" in victory. A couple of weeks ago, I suggested Mark Richt should invoke some Nellie Oleson. I was wrong. The Dawgs just needed someone to stand on their G. Isaiah Crowell was running down that field like somebody had put a quarter in him (even though he didn't score, but we'll give him a pass).

Some other things I liked about the game:

The helmets stayed on. I didn't notice any lids flying yesterday (I may have missed some). Apparently the Dawgs have fixed that problem.
Malcom Mitchell scored. I like Malcom Mitchell. I don't know anything about him, but I like the alliteration of his name. It's not as good as Vince Vance, but it's still good. By the way, whatever happened to Vince Vance?
Richard Samuel played. I like Richard Samuel too. True, he's not really earning any football gold medals, but in the 2009 season, I learned that he likes to read. So I have a little spot in my heart for him. He's probably the only player on this year's team who knows what a Chanticleer was. He didn't get much field time last year, so I was glad to see him carry the ball a little bit yesterday.

Next week we'll be playing Tennessee, and because the game's a night, I'll get to watch it real time. Yesterday, I had to watch on the DVR. So many thanks to one of my favorite Dawgs, Stephen Remler, for recording for me. He gets brownie points too for other reasons. See below.

So why couldn't I watch the game in real time? Because I had to take the SAT. Numerous friends and relatives have been asking me, "Why? Why would you want to do that to yourself? Why would you volunteer to take a five hour test when you don't have to?" The answer is simple. I felt like it.

Actually, I have a more specific explanation. Davis also took the SAT yesterday, for the second time, in attempt to bring his math score up a bit. What's more, my niece, Elizabeth Dixon, recently enrolled at The University of Georgia, so apparently, her SAT score was pretty admirable. During a recent conversation, Sabra and I talked about our kids taking the SAT, applying for college, and all that goes along with it, and we wondered what we would make if we took the SAT right now. And of course, we immediately said, in unison, "Let's find out!"

So we signed up. And yesterday morning, Sabra and I went down to Macon State College, pencils in hand, ready to bubble in some answers. We got some weird looks when we showed up among a crowd of teenagers, and one test administrator stopped me during a break and said, "I'm just so curious. Why are you here?" I told him. I don't think he could wrap his head around my answer.

For the past few months, Sabra, in recognition that she has a real life and better things to do, refused to study for the exam. I, however, with my type A personality, just had to brush up on my math because I wanted to score a 500 on that section (I wasn't really worried about the verbal section. I get lots of practice with those skills daily). But even after taking at least ten practice SATs and after spending hours working with tutoring videos on The Khan Academy (by the way, that's a great resource), I still could not figure out functions. Let me clarify. If I have to work a simple function, such as f(x)=2x + 2, I'm good. But when it comes to working functions on a graph, I'm lost. Not even the Khan Academy could help me figure that out. So I knew that when I took the exam, if I got a question like this:

I would have to skip it. I prayed for no problems like that. But there were several. I left a number of math bubbles blank.

On the other hand, I kicked butt on the essay and verbal sections.

SAT proctors reminded us at least five times that until we got our scores, we were not to discuss the test questions with anyone, even by e-mail, text message, phone, or smoke signals. And of course, all those reminders had the opposite effect on me. As soon as the test was over, Sabra and I got in her car and shut the doors, and I asked, "What was your essay topic?" Turns out she and I had the same topic. So did Davis (because like his mother and aunt, he throws caution to the wind and ignores SAT top secret guidelines). Davis says everybody gets the same questions; it's just that the sections are in different orders from person to person. Interesting.

Anyway, now that's over, and I will have to wait a few weeks before I can share my scores. Stay tuned.

An SAT celebration:
I was later getting home than I thought I would be, so I missed seeing Davis and Megan off as they went to the BC homecoming dance. Fortunately, Stephen took photos for me:

But to make up for it, he cooked me dinner. When I entered the house, I found him at the stove seasoning steaks. But the steaks were only part of the meal:

We had surf and turf! Yum! And Clorox got to eat the parts we didn't want He was one happy cat last night.

Not only that, but while I was in Macon having dinner with Sabra and Skippy at the Fish and Pig, my new favorite restaurant in Macon, which overlooks Lake Tobosofkee, Davis was at BC's homecoming game, where he caught a little BC football at halftime. Knowing I've always wanted one of those little footballs but have never caught one, Davis brought it home and gave it to me. What a sport!

And not only that, but while I've been taking the SAT and enjoying my SAT dinner, Lawson has been in Athens watching the Dawgs sic the bulldogs. He probably got to see that terrible jumping on the G incident, which I'll have to ask him about. Lawson said he would take photos for me while in Sanford Stadium. I can't wait to see them. The weather has been gorgeous this weekend. What a great day for a football game. I'm jealous. But I can't complain. My father in-law offered the Georgia-Mississippi state tickets to me, but I opted instead to take the SAT.

Lawson and MacKenzie upon entering Sanford Stadium.

But even though I missed the game (in real time anyway), thanks to Davis, Lawson, and Stephen, I got to test my math skills and enjoy many perks of a football weekend. My favorite Dawgs are right here in Savannah on Wilmington Island.

Kicking Off the Fall Season Remler Style

2011-09-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Football season may have begun four weeks ago, but the fall season began this weekend. And it was a busy kickoff for the Remlers.

First, I got my kicks watching the Georgia game. The Bulldogs won! Against an SEC team! And there was actually competition during the game! Nevertheless, Davis fell asleep in his chair. We'll give him a pass on that because he was under the weather. But Stephen was also snoozing during the first half, and Lawson just abandoned the game to play X-Box Live. I don't understand. I found the game rather interesting to watch. And here's why:

Two seasons ago, when I started my Learning the Dawgs blog, I could not understand the reasons for all the different kicks. When do you punt, and when do you kick with a tee? And why do it two different ways to begin with? What's a pooch kick? What's the point of it? When is it appropriate to catch the ball after a kick and run it down the field, and when is it appropriate to let it fall to the ground and watch it roll toward the end zone? Kicking made very little sense to me.

But this year I get it. My light bulb moment occurred at the end of the first quarter. The score was 10-0, and Ole Miss punted but then watched the ball roll down the field, and I realized they wanted the ball to get as far into the Bulldogs' territory as possible. That way, when the Dawgs got the ball, they'd have farther to run. Makes sense.

Then, during the second quarter Ole Miss punted and Brandon Smith tried to catch it, but then he decided not to. He jumped out of the way and again, the Rebels watched the ball roll. But uh-oh! The ball almost rolled into the end zone! And Rebels floundered around, eventually swatting the ball back onto the field, where it ended somewhere at the one foot line. And that's when I got the end zone business. If the ball goes into the end zone, then the opposing team gets its first down at the 20 yard line. But by swatting the ball back onto the field, Georgia had to have its first down at that point, and they had farther down the field to go.

But I still didn't understand why Brandon Smith didn't catch the ball to begin with. Why did he jump out of the way? Fortunately, Davis had awakened from his Ny-Quil induced nap, and he said that sometimes the receiving team decides not to catch the ball because the receiver will get sacked and might fumble, thereby giving the opposing team possession.

So now everything about kicking makes sense except the decision not to catch the ball. I mean, in every aspect of the game, nobody seems to mind getting tackled. At kickoff, the receiver catches the ball and runs right into the middle of a bunch of hulking defensive linemen waiting to tromp on him. Then, after the snap, the quarterback passes the ball to a receiver, who runs like the wind toward the goal post until a faster defensive player pulls him to the ground. Or the quarterback passes the ball over to a running back, who (if he's a Bulldog) runs right into the middle of a wall of defensive linemen, just salivating for a morsel of running back meat. After all, isn't that what all those pads are for? But punt the ball to a player, and all of a sudden, he's the Wimpy Kid. Oh, no, he thinks. Somebody might knock me down. And he jumps out of the way, allowing his opponents to tippie toe around the ball as it wobbles on its side toward the goal line.

I don't know. That "I might fumble if I get tackled" excuse seems kind of lame to me. If only the Georgia Bulldogs leaped out of the way of each punt, I'd understand it. After all, their chin straps still don't work (How long must we watch red helmets bouncing all over the field like popcorn?). But every team I've watched avoids catching that punt at some point. I say man up. Catch that ball. Run it down the field like your pants are on fire. Isn't football about mayhem and carnage?

And that's all I've got to say about football, because once the game ended, it was time for the next phase of the Remler Fall Kickoff:

Road Trip!
Shortly after half time, the Taylors came over! Dawn and Jim, after attending a fascinating legal conference, drove from St. Simons to Savannah for a short visit on Wilmington Island. And after some time to catch up with each other and enjoy a refreshing libation, we all showered up and put on our party clothes for a trip to beautiful Vidalia, Georgia, where we attended the surprise birthday party for BB and Hugh.

Boy, Hugh and BB were flabbergasted to see the host of friends and relatives who had gathered at the home of Nancy and Tom Peterson. And we all had a fine time catching up with our cousins, aunts and uncles. After the party ended, Sabra and Martin joined us for the drive home, and after a short stop at the Vidalia Dairy Queen for a delicious dip cone, we went back to Savannah for a good night's rest.

This morning, after a light breakfast, the Taylors and the Neffs departed for the metro Atlanta area, leaving me and Stephen in the driveway wondering, What do we do now?

Stephen looked at me and said, "Why don't we drive to Brunswick?"
I shrugged. "Why not?"
"Let's not tell Davis and Lawson where we're going," he said.
"Fine by me," I replied before returning inside to tell our boys, "We're going to run some errands."
And off we departed to travel down I-95 because we had not had enough of the interstate the previous day. And on our journey, we brought home...

Clifford
We found ourselves at the home of Stephen's brother, Brett, who had recently purchased a new truck from the Ford Motor Company. And because we didn't like to see Brett suffering from a lack of garage space, we decided to take his old Chevrolet Avalanche off his hands.

"Let's surprise Davis with it," Stephen said. "After all, he's been a good boy. He might enjoy driving a truck with a working radio."
"I think Davis will like that," I replied. And we were right. Here's the big smile on Davis's face upon receiving a new truck.

Lawson's mighty excited too, because now when Davis picks him up from school, he'll get to depart in a cool ride. Not only that, but Lawson soon discovered that the tool boxes in the back are too small for Davis to stuff him into them. He feels a lot safer now.

Of course, when one sees a vehicle of this size and color, one immediately feels the urge to call it Big Red. But Davis, Stephen, and I all declared that name too cliche'. We thought a while about a different name for the truck, and Stephen eventually came up with one just right: Clifford

Just like that big red cartoon dog.

So now the weekend is at an end. Fall is here. Barbara and Hugh have celebrated the big 7-0. I understand punts. Davis gets to ride in comfort. Everybody's happy.

Praying for Troy--And Ourselves

2011-09-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

Ironically, on this International Day of Freedom, TroyAnthony Davis is living his last day. Scheduled for execution tonight, Davis is spending his final hours visiting with family andfriends while protestors stand vigil outside the walls of the GeorgiaDiagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, Georgia.

I’ve been listening to reports about Davis’s scheduled execution over the pastcouple of days. Most pundits refer to this case as a travesty of justice,citing repeatedly that seven of the nine witnesses in his case have recantedtheir testimony. If there’s any doubt to his guilt, they say, he should notdie.

I agree. So do Pope Benedict XVI, former President JimmyCarter, FBI Director William Sessions, and the European Union.

At the same time, I must acknowledge that there’s much Idon’t know about this case. All I know about Davis’s appeals process is what I’ve read inthe newspaper. Those reports are sketchy at best. While they inform the publicthat Davis’sappeals have been denied over the past several years, they have notspecifically explained the reasons behind those denials. I must rely onnewspaper reports, such as this one in today’s Los Angeles Times:

Yet appeals courts have opted notto reverse the jury's decision because even with all the troubling newdetails, defense attorneys haven't been able to prove by clear and convincingevidence that Davisis innocent. That's a different burden of proof than is required at trial,where prosecutors need to demonstrate guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

While I don’t dispute the Times’s claims, I also have not read court documents, which mightexplain the denials more specifically. I wonder how many people have.

What I can infer is this: Davis’srelentless attorneys and supporters have taken his case all the way through thestate justice system, unfortunately being denied a new trial. Then they’ve beenthrough the federal courts, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refusedto give Davis ahearing. As judges have considered Davis’scase through these phases of state and federal justice systems, they mustdecide according to the law as it’s written. If we need to change the law, thenwe should do so. But we should not point fingers at the officials we haveelected and appointed to abide by it.

The Los Angeles Timesfurther claims that this failure in the justice system is “why the deathpenalty should be abolished.” Fair enough. But just before I watched TV reportsabout Davis’spending execution, I saw another report about the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of the two accused murders of the wife and children of Dr. William Petit. Komisarjevsky and hisaccomplice Steven Hayes were charged, among other things, with beating Dr.Petit and sexually assaulting his wife and daughters before murdering them andburning down their house. Komisarjevsky has admitted to the crimes. Hisaccomplice, Hayes, has already been convicted and is on death row. Still,Komisarjevsky has pled not guilty to all seventeen charges. Overwhelming evidencepoints to his guilt. And if a jury finds him guilty and sentences him to death,I can’t say I’ll be sorry.

Meanwhile, the Daviscase serves as a tragic example of how state laws should be modified to avoid devastatingconsequences for those wrongly accused. Some of my friends in other states,understandably outraged, are getting online and calling Georgia’slawmakers “a bunch of barbarians.” Those friends are entitled to say what theywant, but I think this is not the time for name calling. That does Troy Davisno good. Instead, if my friends (and I) want to make a difference, we shouldread the court documents to understand better why our state and federallawmakers made their decisions. Then we should take action to change the law sothat no other convicted citizens find themselves in Troy Davis’s situation.

We might be able to make a difference to other victims ofour flawed justice system. For today, I think the best thing we can do is prayfor Troy Davis and his family.

A Good Day for Football

2011-09-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning demonstrated I have much to learn about college football. First thing, I turned on the TV to set the DVR to record the Georgia game. But I couldn't find it anywhere.

"It's not playing on TV," Stephen said. "It's not a good enough game."

Fair enough. So then I started searching for it on Pay Per View. That's when the sticker shock hit me:"Thirty four dollars? Jesus Christ! That's ridiculous!" I screamed. "Who'd pay thirty four dollars to watch the Bulldogs play the Chanticleers?"

"Why don't you to go Coach's Corner?" Stephen asked. "They're bound to be playing the game there. Or maybe the Wilmington Island Club."

Then Lawson got up."Lawson, do you want to go to the Wilmington Island Club to watch the Georgia game with me?"

"No," he said. "I'd rather watch it here."

"Oh, but do you know how much it costs to watch it on Pay Per View?" I asked, arms akimbo, nodding with that omniscient parental nod that I've gotten pretty good at.

He turned to face me. "'Thirty four dollars? Jesus Christ! That's ridiculous!' I know, Mom. I bet the whole neighborhood knows by now."

Okay, so maybe I should have sticker shock with my inside voice.

Turns out the manager at the Wilmington Island Club wasn't interested in forking over thirty four bucks to watch it either.

I get the logic of playing the game on Pay Per View, but I don't understand the logic of the price. I can watch a big game, like Georgia vs LSU for free, but if I want to watch a little game, I have to go to the ATM first. It seems to me Comcast would get more takers if they asked customers to cough up five bucks instead of thirty-five. But that's just me.

But know I know this: not only do I have to learn the rules of the game. I also have to learn the rules of cable sportscasting.

Nevertheless, yesterday was a great day for football, and here's why:

Georgia Won: Big time. No surprise, though. See my previous post about the Chanticleers*.
Notre Dame Won!: Woo hoo! Now, I don't really follow the Irish that closely, but I can't remember when they won a game. And they beat Michigan State too! Big rivalry. So I am happy not only for Notre Dame, but also for my dear friends Beth Howells and Nylce Prada Myers, devoted Notre Dame fans. Last night was a good night for them.
Clemson beat Auburn! Wow! Now, it's not that I'm so anti-Auburn. I have several friends who are Auburn alums, so I mean no disrespect to them, but if the Tigers are going to play the Tigers, I have to go with, well, the Tigers. After all, one of my football mentors, former football star Mike Gasque quarterbacked for Clemson during their championship year. If he's going to teach me the ways of the game, the least I can do is root for his team.
BC Won!: Last night Stephen and I joined Kelley and David and Michael and Shelley at Memorial Stadium to watch what the football announcers called Georgia's oldest football rivalry. I'm not going to do any fact checking on that; instead, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that the BC Cadets put a hurtin' on Savannah High School.

So there you go. I'm feeling pretty good about how I kept up with four different football games in one day. But I also realize I have to pull my notes out from last year. I've already forgotten what a nickel back and a dime back are because half the time, I'm trying to keep up with where the ball is. One of these days, someone will figure out how to put that yellow first down line on the field during a high school football game. Next weekend when Georgia plays Ole Miss, I'll have my notebook with me again.

*Nota Bene: Regarding my last post about the Chanticleers, I was rather snarky about the team's coach. Thanks to my friend and former football star Mike Gasque, I now know that Coastal Carolina's football team has only been around a couple of years or so, so they haven't even developed callouses on their feet yet. So I'll back off some. Still, I think they should reconsider the name of their team.

Commissioning's Over: Back to Football

2011-09-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was just too busy to write about football. It was all I could do to upload my commissioning photos and post on the blog about Davis's big day. But now that's over, and I can think about football again.

I recorded the Georgia-South Carolina game on the DVR, and I watched it Sunday night. I have to say, it looks like Mark Richt did light a fire under his Bulldogs last weekend. Although the score didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, that last half was pretty darn exciting.

This week, Georgia's shifting gears, transitioning from a contest against Steve Spurrier's Division I SEC team to playing Coastal Carolina University, a school I'd never heard of until I saw Georgia's schedule a few weeks ago. I didn't even know what their team name was until a few minutes ago. It's the Chanticleers.

We're playing roosters again.

At least South Carolina's roosters have a tough name. Gamecocks fight each other till the death. What do Chanticleers do? They crow. In fact, they crow so loud that they fail to notice the lurking foxes that eventually take them by the throat.

I should have more respect for the Chanticleers. Obviously, someone in their athletic history read The Canterbury Tales. I suppose I should recognize that Chanticleer was a proud rooster, pride's always a good attribute for a team. But Chanticleer's pride was also his downfall. The only reason he saved his own life was because the fox was just as prideful as he was. But I'd be willing to bet that many football fans don't know (or have forgotten) who Chaucer's fictional rooster is, and even if they do remember, Chanticleer is, well, it's just not a good football team name. It's not tough enough.

Chanticleer is only slightly better than the football team name Macon, Georgia's former Central High School had. When the school still operated under the name Lanier High School, named for Georgia's Sidney Lanier, the athletic teams were named the Poets. I get the connection, but honestly, poets just aren't at all intimidating. It seems to me that if a school is going to name its team after poets, at least make them epic poets. And if a team is going to be named after a chicken, why not the Leghorns? Or the Wyandottes? Even the Appenzellers.

But the Chanticleers?

But let's set the name aside for now. The Chanticleers don't even talk tough. I guess they know they'll be playing out of their league this weekend. During yesterday's press conference, CCU head coach David Bennett said, "We are the small guys. Hey, they're the dogs. We are going to have to fight the dogs off." He also added, "We can't worry about the score. We've got to go play the game." Hmm. To me, that's code for "We're going to lose. But that's okay because the Dawgs need a win. We'll be the ones to give it to them."

If Georgia doesn't beat this team, those Dawgs will have egg all over their faces.

Commissioning Weekend Remler Style

2011-09-13T04:13:00.001-07:00

Davis Remler's parents were so proud of him they were about to pop. So they couldn't let the weekend pass with just a ceremony at the school. Instead, they invited Davis's grandparents, aunts and uncles to Savannah for the weekend, threw a party, and generally had a big time. Davis's mom took more than 200 pictures of the occasion, but that number would be too great to post here. Instead of uploading a bunch of individual photos for readers to scroll through, she created this short video of weekend highlights. We had a beautiful weekend, which we enjoyed with barbecue, water balloons, ladder golf, washers, shark fin hats, pretty dresses, and a military saber.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Show Us Some Nellie!

2011-09-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

This week's Bulldog report appears pregame because this week is packed with activity. My son's commissioning is Saturday evening, and the ceremony conflicts with the game.

Hence, I'll have my DVR going, and I'll watch the game, but I'll be avoiding the news until I'm finished.

I've been reading the post-Boise State sports blogs this week. It seems that the Remler family's sports conversations sounded just like those at Bill King's family reunion: "Some were ready now to write fini to the Richt era," writes King. "Others took the tack I did in my postgame blog, that losing to the Top 5 team in the country in the first game doesn’t necessarily mean a doomed season." Fair enough, but the Remler consensus is that Mark Richt needs to change his tune if he wants to remain a Bulldog. My father in-law says that Mark Richt is too nice a guy and his players know he's too nice a guy, so they don't perform.

Maybe he has a point. The way I see it, Mark Richt is the Pa Ingalls of SEC football coaches.

He's youthful looking, has lots of kids, is handsome enough, and he plays fair. Okay, Richt doesn't cry at every warm and fuzzy moment, but in every other respect, he's Pa. And there's nothing wrong with Pa. He's a great guy. People love him. In fact, when he breaks his ribs and can't go to work and his farm is on the brink of foreclosure, all his friends rally around him and do his work so the bank will back off. We all cheer for Pa.

The problem this week is that if Mark Richt is Pa, then Steve Spurrier is Nellie Oleson.

Who doesn't want to tackle that onion face? But what the Ingallses have learned time and again is that to beat Nellie, you have to give her a taste of her own medicine. That means that if the Dawgs want to be Carolina this weekend, they've got to show us some Nellie on that field. And Richt has to show us some Nellie on the sidelines too.

I don't want to see any of this Pa Ingalls, glass half-full, positive outlook stuff. Nuh-uh.

I want to see some of this business.

And this.

Not so much of this, though. He looks like he's yawning there. No time for naps on the gridiron.
In other words, maybe Mark Richt ought to get a little bitchy out there, scare some touchdowns into those Dawgs. Can't hurt. Might help.

P.S. If you're reading this blog on Facebook, please go to my blog at Remlerville (http://remlerville.blogspot.com) to answer my question about those rubber bands the players wear on their arms and legs. Thank you.

Not a Happy Night for the Dawgs

2011-09-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

It was not a good night for Georgia fans last night. For most of the game, the Dawgs looked little different from how they performed last year. Brandon Boykin's beautiful run down the field lifted spirits in the first quarter. But then Bulldog performance was underwhelming until Orson Charles's touchdown pass completion late in the game. But it's a little disappointing when the team's reason for celebrating is that they're only losing by two touchdowns.

Eventually, I changed the channel and tuned into "Little House on the Prairie." I think the Dawgs could use some of Nellie Oleson's vinegar.

Watching "Little House on the Prairie" inspired me to think happy thoughts, so with a positive football attitude, I wish the Dawgs better luck next week. Then I reminisce about happier Georgia days when Stephen and I would take our coupon books to the Georgia coliseum and get our football tickets. We'd sit with a block of our friends and cheer on the Dawgs. In 1986, Georgia beat South Carolina, Old Miss, LSU, Clemson, Kentucky, and Tech. Vince Dooley was the coach. Football was fun.

Still, I can't help playing a small role of the armchair quarterback.

If I were Mark Richt I would have:

Worn less makeup: I know he has to look good on HDTV, but honestly, his face was so orange he looked like a Broncos fan in a red shirt.
Told Jarvis Jones to keep his helmet on: Last I checked, chin straps weren't high tech, and even if they were, ninety-nine other guys on the team managed to figure theirs out. Jones lost his lid so much I began to wonder if he just wanted to get his face on TV.
Told the team to chill after the first touchdown: My father in-law made the observation a couple of years ago that when Georgia scores early in the game, they act like they're going to win 7-0 and the game goes downhill from there. His observation was right on the money last night. Yes, Boykin's TD was lovely, and he deserved some pats on the back, but everyone in a red uniform acted as if he'd turned water into wine.
Asked Nike to put players' names on the backs of those new uniforms:After last night's debacle, we'll probably never see those uniforms again (which might be a good idea since Jones's helmet seems defective), but for the season opener, it would have been nice to tell which player was which. I had to keep a team roster with me the whole time, and I still had trouble telling the difference between Orson Charles (#7) and Jesse Jones (also #7). Branden Smith and Isaiah Crowell both wear #1. At least I can tell them apart because Crowell has those awful long braids and Smith keeps his hair cut short. Still, names would have helped.
Asked Herschel Walker to suit up and get on that field: Apparently Walker's been mentoring the Dawgs over the summer, and he was on the sidelines cheering them on in the Georgia Dome. But last night, they needed more than his moral support. He still looked in good shape. Maybe he could have helped.
Polished up that resume at halftime: He might be using it in the near future.

Here's hoping the regular season fares better than the Chik-fil-A Classic. Maybe the Dawgs should have eaten more chikin.

It's Football Season Again!

2011-09-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

Last year I took a hiatus from my football postings because, well, the Dawgs had such a disappointing season. But this year the Football Idiot postings are back! I'll start with the Georgia-Boise State game tomorrow and keep posting as I can. However, instead of posting on a separate blog like a did two years ago, I'll put my posts on the Remlerville site. It's just too complicated managing multiple blogs. This year simplicity is key.

Go Dawgs!

What Would You Do?

2011-08-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Monday the 15th was our first day of classes. Every first day, I review the syllabus and the textbook and give the students an assignment. I did the same with my methods students. They're the seniors who are taking the class to learn methods of teaching English prior to student teaching. After the first class, I got an e-mail from one of my students who said she had withdrawn from all her classes due to personal reasons.

Often, when students withdraw, they just stop coming, and then at the end of the semester, they've earned a failing grade for their courses because they haven't filled out the proper paperwork. So when I received this students' e-mail, I replied that I hoped she had filled out the proper paperwork, and if she needed assistance, I would be glad to help her with it. I ended my message with the hope that she would take the methods course again next year.

This was her reply: "I am aware of the forms that need to be filled out, and I have gone through the correct channels to ensure that I am properly withdrawn, and so NO, I don't need your assistance. I don't think I would have enjoyed the methods course, and don't believe that I will ever attempt to take it in the future. I am an English major, and rather than being confused on the first day, I was bored."

Wow. I don't know what I did to deserve such vitriol, but I hope she doesn't write e-mails to her other professors that way. Of course, the best response to such a message is no response at all. So I've done nothing. But you know how these things go. I can think of all kinds of ways I'd like to respond. So I'm playing a "what if" game. If I did respond to her, what would I write?

I'd like to hear from my readers. If you got this message, how would you reply to Miss Vinegar?

What I Read This Summer

2011-08-21T15:47:00.001-07:00

It's official. Summer is over. I started school Monday. Davis started school last week, and Lawson's first day was Tuesday. But instead of writing a report on what I did over the summer (because those reports have been coming in monthly via Remlerville), I will report on my summer reading.

I think I accomplished a lot. First of all, I must mention that Stephen gave me an iPad for Mother's Day, on which I immediately installed a Kindle ap, so I've been reading traditional paper back books as well as electrically charged ones. The variety enables me to read two books simultaneously: the paper model for the pool and the electronic model for reading in bed while Stephen sleeps. I resisted the Kindle for a long time, hoping that if I refused to give in, I could single-handedly save the publishing industry. But I'm hooked, so Amazon has nothing to fear.

I'm going to begin my summer reading list with the book I finished reading on April 30th. Most people don't think of April as a summer month, but it just so happens that on April 21st, I finished reading that verbose Russian doorstop that most people call Anna Karenina. So on April 22nd, I considered myself paroled. I immediately picked up a much shorter, much lighter (literally and figuratively) book:

Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith is a cute novel about a philologist. I know. I know. How in the world could philology be interesting? Well, it just so happens one can be right funny when he sword fights his colleague and chops off the end of his nose. Just ask Carol Jamison, the philologist next door. I passed the book on to her, and she found it delightful. I like Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books better, but this one was a nice break after Tolstoy.

By the way, Susan Baldwin, did you ever finish Anna Karenina?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read the whole trilogy, and I'll spare you the reading time by lumping all three books in this one listing. The first book, The Hunger Games, is a real page turner, though at times inconsistent with details. I was not fully satisfied with the ending, though I knew it was a springboard for Part II. Catching Fire, was a good story for a young adult book, but by the end I was getting a little tired of teenagers saving the world. By the time I got to Mockingjay, the final (whew!) installment, I began to think the story bordered on the ridiculous. The main character all but turned into a superhero, and I lost interest. I hear there's a movie in the works. I think I'll wait to watch it On Demand.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe. Every summer I have to read a celebrity autobiography, usually by someone too young to write an autobiography. This year's pick was Rob Lowe for two reasons: 1) I read an excerpt of it in Vanity Fair, so I figured I'd been given a head start and 2) Last summer I read Melissa Gilbert's autobiography, and I wanted to read how he treated her in his book. Lowe's book is okay as far as celebrity autobiographies go, but I was impressed that he glossed over his relationship with Gilbert. In fact, he hardly mentioned her at all. Was that for his benefit or hers?

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson. I adore Joshilyn Jackson. She is a talented writer and a delightful person, as I learned when I lunched with her at a 2007 (or was it '08?) conference of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English. This was Jackson's most recent book at the time, but now she has another one out, so I should download it on my Kindle. Backseat Saints was a good, quick read, but smarter than your usual summer fare. It also tells the story of one of Jackson's minor characters from Gods in Alabama.

Heir to the Everlasting: This year the GCTE journal published an issue of author interviews, and my friend Julie Rucker published an interview with Georgia author Janice Daugharty. Julie's interview was how I learned about Daugharty and her books, so I decided to give this latest one a try. I found it wonderfully descriptive, but in many places excessively so. Still, I enjoyed the time setting: early 20th century. And it's about dang time someone wrote about south Georgia.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. Kelley Remler was reading this novel, and when she finished it, she passed it on to me. I was still reading Heir to the Everlasting, so I handed it over to Stephen, who plowed through it. Stephen's not a big reader, so if he rips through a novel, I know I have to give it a shot. I found this one a legal page turner, great for a summer read. Recently, Stephen and I watched the movie. You guessed it. The book is better.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin. I will now read anything Tom Franklin writes. Of all the books I read this summer (that I hadn't read before), this one was my favorite. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is really good, really good. In fact, I liked it so much that I gave it to my friend Shelly Tucker, only to realize that I had borrowed it from my friend Beth, so I had to go to Barnes and Noble to buy another copy, which I then returned to Beth as if it were the same copy she loaned to me. And now if Beth reads this posting, she'll know the truth.

One Summer by David Baldacci. I read a review of this in People magazine. Actually, it wasn't a review. People asked an author (I can't remember who--bad sign) to list some books she recommended. She recommended this one. For the life of me I don't know why. I think this is probably the worst book I have ever read. The only reason I finished it was that I had paid for it and felt obligated. This book didn't even get one star in my book journal.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. I love Ann Patchett's books, and since I spoke to her in the women's room of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, I feel a special connection to her fiction. So when Beth loaned me this one, I immediately began reading. I found the concept compelling, but I have to say, this book dragged for 250 pages. It has a powerful ending, though, so if you have the patience, you'll enjoy how it closes.

Untold Story by Monica Ali: I was drawn to the high concept of this novel: Princess Diana didn't die. Instead, she faked her death and resumed a regular life in the U. S. It started out pretty interesting, but I wish it had been smarter than it was. I gave it only two stars.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. Last December, I read Room by Emma Donoghue, which is a fictional Jaycee Dugard story told from the point of view of the child born in captivity. All through the novel, I kept wondering, What would Jaycee Dugard think of this book? So when she published her story, I had to read it. What's touching is that it reads as if it's written by someone with a fifth grade education. And that's because it is written by someone with a fifth grade education. So not only did the story itself draw me in, but the voice did too. What's more, by buying the book, I made a contribution to her foundation, so I feel like I helped someone too.

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys by Chris Fuhrman. Davis had to read this novel for his summer reading. I'd heard of it, and I knew it was adapted to a film starring Jodie Foster. But what I didn't realize was that it's set in Savannah. Davis told me the characters are students at Blessed Sacrament who conspire to steal a bobcat from Oatland Island. Curiosity got me, so I read it. It was fair. But then when I read the author bio, I learned that the author had been a student at Armstrong! Get out of town!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: And then the opening of the movie approached, so I decided to reread this fabulous book because I'd forgotten some of the details. And I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. This ranks right up there with To Kill a Mockingbird for me. And as it turns out, the film is very well done.

It Looked Prettier on the Model by Laurie Notaro. Every summer I read a Laurie Notaro book.Thank you, Laurie, for cranking out those books so frequently! She is laugh out loud funny. And she gets an extra star because even her author bio was hilarious. I just finished reading this one about fifteen minutes ago.

So my fall reading begins, and I will start with a book by my friend Beth's friend Amanda Eyre Ward. Close Your Eyes is her fourth novel, and I have enjoyed the other three, so I'm looking forward to this one. Maybe in December I'll post a fall reading list. If I do, I'll include a review of this one.

A Dedicated Clorox Page

2011-07-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

One family member who's gotten short shrift on the Remlerville blog is our wonderful cat, Clorox. So here is a dedicated Clorox posting.

Isn't he cute?

You can probably figure out how he got his name.

Once upon a time, Clorox was a cat named Jerome. But we took him away from all that when we showed up at the Humane Society, and he uttered a loud meow of thanks. The first thing we did, once we promised the folks at the Humane Society that we'd never let him outdoors (yeah, right), was buy him a pretty pink collar and change his name. The pink collar lasted about half an hour. The name stuck.

This is a Christmas card photo from several years ago.

Aren't those three of the cutest things you've ever seen?

Clorox is a cat of adventure. He likes to get in and on things. Sometimes that works to his advantage, say, when a big, bad dog shows up to kick cat butt. Or when he just wants a nap (his laughing place is in our kitchen cabinet on top of the lunch bags). Other times, though, his propensity to climb doesn't work out so well. For instance, there was that time the housekeeper came to clean, and when she left, she exited through the garage. When she pressed the button on the garage door opener, she heard an awful racket, and when she checked her rear view mirror, she saw a furious white cat dangling from his tail at the top of our garage. She pushed that button again, and Clorox took off. Fortunately, he came back at dinner time, his tail between his legs.

More than once, we've driven down our street, on our way to dinner or to town, only to have a neighbor wave us down and report that our cat was on top of the car. Once, our friend Michael Tucker came over for a visit, and when he left, he'd driven around the corner when Clorox emerged from his back seat. "Meow." Michael had to turn around and bring him back home.

Another thing Clorox likes to get in
is the charcoal bag.
We've had to put it up out of reach.

In the summer, we invite Clorox to come inside and enjoy the air conditioning. He'll join us for a minute or two, just to see what we're eating. When he learns we're having broccoli for dinner, he goes to the door and asks to be put out. His tune is much different in the winter, though. He comes in and perches on our brown chair right in front of the fire place, and woe be to the person who sits in Clorox's seat. He'll give that person all kinds of grief.

As lovable as Clorox is, he's kind of dumb. That's part of what makes him so lovable. Still, he won't be winning any scholarships. But that dumbness works to our favor. For instance, he'll sit in the garage and watch neighborhood cats jump up onto the counter top, rip open a bag of cat food, and eat it. But will Clorox do that? No. Instead, he sits at the foot of said counter and meows until somebody feeds him. Every time somebody walks outside, he thinks it's dinner time. Even when we exchanged his analog watch for a digital! And don't even get me started on Daylight Savings Time.

In spite of his lack of intellect, Clorox is a good cat. He's been with us fifteen years, and to make sure he's with us a lot longer, we're making him wait until he's eighteen before he can get his driver's license.

A Weekend with Family

2011-07-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, my weekend began on Thursday. While Elizabeth Dixon was visiting with her sister in Colorado, I was visiting with mine in Atlanta. Sabra made sure I got to visit the places I rarely get to go, and I made sure she was too busy to text her younger daughter, who had flown across the United States.

The main event during the trip was a delightful lunch, hosted by Skippy, who had invited us to join her, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Winnie at the Swan Coach House on Friday. I had never been there, though I'd heard much about it. Because it is so well known, I had to try their headline menu items: the chicken salad, the frozen fruit salad, and the French silk swan.

Here's a photo of my French silk swan.
Isn't it lovely?

The meal was delicious, and the company was lots of fun. Our only regret was that we had not gotten together for lunch before. After a fantastic meal, we visited the restaurant's gift shop and art gallery before taking some photos:

From left to right:

Sabra, Aunt Winnie, Aunt Mary, Skippy, me

Afterward, Sabra and Aunt Mary were kind enough to indulge me in a trip around the block to Atlanta's famous historic landmark, the Swan House. I got some great photos there too:

But the Swan Coach House was not the only place I enjoyed a fancy meal. Sabra and Martin were fabulous hosts, taking me to other metro Atlanta hot spots, including Muss & Turner, Sip Wine, Blue Moon Pizza, and the Canoe riverside bar.

While at Canoe, the arrival of a group of lawyers interrupted our conversation with an unusually loud recap of the day's court case. Apparently the attorneys thought everyone in the bar wanted to hear about their exciting day. Sabra and I began to wonder: Would the lawyers be just as interested in our conversation? We decided to try an experiment, which turned into a game whereby we would pepper our bland conversation with interjections of more attention-grabbing lines, such as the following.

Nancy: What kind of wine is that?
Sabra: It's a Chardonnay I usually like to get here. Would you like a taste? And then when his daughter was ten years old, he discovered he'd be sterile since birth!

Sabra: Do you want to order dessert?
Nancy: Maybe. Let's ask for a dessert menu. Sure, she got a huge settlement from the malpractice suit. Then she spent it all on a boob job!

While we had fun trying to interrupt the lawyer-talk, they were to absorbed in their own conversation to take note of ours. But we did notice a man sitting to Sabra's left who seemed intrigued when we talked just a little too loud. After a short while, he moved from his original seat to a stool at the bar--right behind our seats. After we paid our bill, Sabra said in an unusually loud voice, "Come on. Let's go get you the help you need." As we departed, I looked behind me to see that man laughing.

So that was a lot of fun, and I hope Sabra and Martin will come to Savannah soon so we can try out the same game at some of our local spots. Maybe Rocks on the River? The Mansion?

I departed Atlanta on Saturday and drove to Augusta, more specifically, Clark Hill Lake, where the annual Remler family reunion at Laurie's lake house was already underway. I found relatives eating, drinking, relaxing, boating, jet-skiing, tubing, and generally having a good time. The most exciting news was that my younger son, Lawson, has maintained his lucky streak, not only winning the first night's game of Left-Right-Center, but also taking home the pot in Thursday night's craps tournament and Friday night's poker match. Poor Brian Remler, our family poker expert, tried his best to beat Lawson at cards, but when Lawson beat Brian's straight with five kings (he had a wild card), Brian had to tip his hat to the twelve year-old champ. Lawson came home with a red Solo cup full of cash. Way to go, Lawson! When you graduate, I'm taking you to Vegas!

I was not as lucky at Saturday night's game of blackjack, but I had fun anyway. I stayed with it until midnight, but eventually, I had to cash in my chips and go to bed. I left Lawson at the table, chips towering in front of him, and I don't want to know how late he stayed up beating the pants off his Uncle Brett. Based on the droopy eyelids this evening, though, I have a feeling the cows came home well before Lawson declared lights out.

What a way to close out the summer.

Beef: It's What's for Dinner

2011-07-18T17:07:00.001-07:00

Several of my friends have gone vegan, and those who haven't avoid red meat. I've tried vegetarianism myself, but after a while, I long for the taste of a big, juicy steak. Fortunately, I'm married to a Big Green Eggspert, so I frequently meet my red meat quota. But tonight, we served a thick, juicy steak the likes of which we've never cooked.

Here it is raw. I put a large Vidalia onion next to it for perspective.

The Hugh Lawson Special Sirloin is only available at M&T Meats in Hawkinsville, GA. This savory slab is four pounds of succulent sirloin, seasoned properly and grilled to perfection (it takes a while. If you get one, be patient). We bought it during our Two Days at the Camphouse last week, and we've been dying to try it, but we knew the four of us wouldn't put a dent in it. So we called Jo Jo, Pop Pop, and Carol Ann to join us for dinner. Even with seven of us, we had plenty of meat left over, so someone will enjoy steak sandwiches or steak salad for lunch tomorrow.

Here it is cooked. Makes you want to run out and get one, doesn't it?

If you haven't been to M&T Meats, go at your earliest convenience. You'll find them on the Lower River Road in Hawkinsville, GA. If you need directions, just go to Hawkinsville and ask someone. Everybody there knows where it is.

Two Days at the Camphouse

2011-07-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to spend a couple of days at the farm shooting guns, riding the Jeep, cleaning boats, riding the Jetskis, and slinging each other off the tube. So that's what Davis, Lawson, and I did this week. We punctuated the trip with one outing (I went to M&T Meats) and visits with family. We had dinner with The Claw Monday night and Harley's family Tuesday night. Hugh and BB joined us each afternoon, and we spent much time trying to stir up enough waves in the water to bounce Davis and Lawson until their teeth rattled or to generate enough momentum to sling them into the trees. I think they had a blast. The following videos paint a general picture. Although Lawson brushed with the branches once, we won't post that video here. Wouldn't want him to see himself on Tosh.O.

July 4th Crab Boil Remler Style

2011-07-10T06:11:00.001-07:00

Independence Day wouldn't be the same without some fun in the sun out on Georgia's barrier islands. This year's boating expedition took us to Little Tybee, where a sunset excursion and wienie roast were the perfect start to the holiday weekend. Stephen had a little trouble lighting the coals because of the breeze, but with some help from Kelley and David, he got the fire started and we enjoyed a dinner of brats and watermelon.

The next day, Kelley and David hosted their annual July 4th party, which comprised of stone crab claws (thanks to Davis's expert crabbing skills), blue crabs, and low country boil. Nobody starved to death that night! And once our tummies were full, we relaxed on the dock to watch the Tybee fireworks. Can't get better than that.

Flag Day, 2011

2011-06-20T15:40:00.001-07:00

Few families actually go out and celebrate Flag Day, but this one does. Big time. In fact, I've celebrated Flag Day all my life. This year was the 45th time.

In the past few years, we have celebrated the holiday with a trip to dinner in the boat. This year’s festivities did including boating, but in a different way. The day began beautifully. Sun. A nice breeze. Temperatures below 100. After Davis completed his work with his math tutor, we all boarded the Triton and sailed (well, motored) out to the sand bar between Tybee and Little Tybee. There we ate fried chicken, fished, swam, and enjoyed the sea life.

Lawson caught a shark! Davis picked up some jelly balls and a giant horseshoe crab for us to examine. I almost stepped on a sting ray (the almost part is key).

After about four hours in the sunshine, my skin began to complain, so we loaded up the boat and headed back for home, where Stephen cooked a delicious low country boil. The Whites and the Tuckers joined us, as did JoJo and PopPop. Stephen even baked a tasty chocolate cake! What could be better than that? Not much.

Here's hoping everyone had a great Flag Day!

More happenings in June:

Davis got a job. He works at the Bahia Bleu Marina, where he cleans boats, helps people pull up to the dock, fills gas tanks, and generally helps out. Last week he got to drive the fork lift! That was exciting. He enjoys earning his own paycheck, and we enjoy that he pays for his own gasoline!

Meanwhile, Lawson is in the rock tumbling business. Just before I left for Highlands last month, Lawson declared, “I’ve always wanted a rock tumbler.” Hmm. Well, I bit. And while at the Jackson Hole gem store, I purchased a rock tumbler and extra set of grit. Now he’s in business. Can’t wait to see what my new sapphire ring looks like!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

My three faithful readers may recall that in my May Moments posting, I wished that my boys would put some crab traps in the water and bring home a mess of stone crab claws (By the way 1 mess = 7 dozen). We had such a great meal last year when Davis caught stone crabs, and I've been hoping for more of the same.

Well, my wish came true.

All last week, Davis, Ben, and Stephen collaborated in catching the stone crabs, herding them on the dock, and removing one claw from each (By the way, that doesn't hurt the crabs a bit. In fact, they like it. That extra claw can be a real pain in the behind sometimes.). And for an extra surprise, Ben, Davis, and Bob also did some fishing off the dock on the Back River and caught eleven flounder. So last night, Bob and Tracy invited all of us to their Tybee summer rental, where we boiled said claws, fried said flounder and feasted on same.

Rubber mallets are the tool of choice when digging into those tasty morsels of crustacean meat. One person expert at pounding on crab claws is Kelley Remler (read more about Kelley in the posting below). She showed us all how it's done. Stephen, on the other hand, is the expert at scoring flounder, then frying them up until their perfectly crispy. The rest of us, of course, are experts at eating.

Here's to more of that this summer!

Kelleyville

2011-05-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at a Remlerville crab-claw-eating, flounder-frying gathering on the back river (see posting above), I was busy snapping shots of folks and food when Kelley asked, "Are these pictures going on the Remlerville blog?"

"Of course," I replied. How in the world could I take such fantastic photos of stone crab claws and not post them online for my three devoted readers to see?

"Well, I want to be on the blog this time," she said. "I have never been on the Remlerville blog."

It took me a few minutes to pick my jaw up off the ground. After all those holidays, sporting events, and trips together, how could I not have put a photo of Kelley on Remlerville? But once I pulled myself together, I assured Kelley that she would definitely be in the next posting (Which she is. See posting above). Kelley's report about her absence on the blogosphere kept nagging at me, though. So this morning, I checked the blarchives. As it turns out, I did post one photo of Kelley on Remlerville. Back in 2007. Clearly, she's due for some photo coverage.

I do want to point out, though, that in January 2010, when I was doing my Remler Menu project, one of my postings honored Kelley and her turkey and rice recipe in "Kelley's Turkey with Rice and Gravy." And then I wrote about her again in "Kelley Saved the Poppyseed Chicken Casserole." In neither posting, though, is there a photo of Kelley.

We'll I'm going to fix that right now with this Kelley palooza of photos from 2005-2011:

May Moments

2011-05-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Is Memorial Day this weekend? Already? What happened to the month of May? It's usually my down time, but not this year. Too much has been happening. For instance...

BC Senior Review: BC's final ROTC event occurred earlier this month with Davis leading the battalion. He also won the American Legion Leadership Award, for which he got another medal. Davis better not walk in front of any magnets! The next week was BC's awards day, where Davis got the Principal's Award.

Cadets Go to Finals: Unfortunately, that's where the awards stopped. Although the Cadets had a great year in lacrosse, the championship just wasn't meant to be. The Cadets played hard, but Camden Military School played a little bit harder. And a little bit tougher. So they ended up taking the silver cup home. My proudest moment was when Davis got put in the penalty box. He tripped another player (I'm sure it was an accident). Those were thirty seconds I could rest assured no Remler bones would get broken.

Diet Coke and Mentos: Once a YouTube sensation, this lethal chemical reaction is now the stuff of sixth grade science. Lawson's final science project was to build a volcano. Back in the day, I mixed baking soda and vinegar with a little orange food coloring mixed in. These days, the teachers encourage the explosive alternative of Mentos and Coke. True to his little pyromaniac form, Lawson was all about it. Building the mountain around the Coke bottle proved a little menacing though. Lawson reported that his teacher required him to make his own dough out of flour, salt, and water. That would not have been a problem except that the teacher sent home instructions with no measurements on it. Lawson tried to wing it, but his volcano looked more like mashed potatoes than Mount Vesuvius. He finally gave up and resorted to paper mache. Once it dried, he took his volcano to school, along with all the other students, for a group eruption. I was unable to attend, but I'm told it was awesome.

Speaking of Mountains: Finally, after turning in all my grades, I loaded up the car and traveled with Lois, Pat, and Donna to Highlands, NC where we huddled up at Aunt Harriet's house (huddle being the operative word--it was 40 degrees up there!) for some quality writing time. I pounded out about four chapters, but while we were there, we managed a bit of time to purchase some amethyst and buy a steak dinner. The mango-rum smoothies were a big hit also. Felt almost like springtime!Now we're down to one last weekend in May. I think it should go out with a bang (but not a volcano). Perhaps I can persuade my sons to put some traps in the water for some stone crab claws. What a way to say hello to summer!

Enchanted April

2011-05-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

This month has been full of sports, holidays, birthdays, visits with relatives, 1200 pages of a Russian novel, and the end of the semester. My family's been so busy that I just uploaded my Easter photos today (A whole week is a really long time for me. I don't like those pictures to wait around). Events have been happening so fast that I've had little time to blog about them. Now it's May1, and there's so much of April I haven't covered. So here it is, a whirlwind of April in one posting:

Easter: Once again at JoJo's house on Tybee, this Easter Sunday omitted the egg hunt. With grandchildren in their mid-twenties, JoJo finally decided they were too old for that. So the egg hunt is on hiatus until great-grandchildren arrive. However, nothing could keep the Remlers from celebrating Easter with food, ping-pong, and a bocce tournament. This year's winning team: Michael and Shelly Tucker!

An added feature to the Easter celebration was the authentic Easter bonnets, which JoJo found in a box after emptying her house on Dutch Island. These fabulous works of millinery belonged to JoJo's mother (and Bruce's mother, too, I think). In fact, the gray hat in the photo above--the one on the right that looks like a Frisbee--is the one JoJo's mother wore to JoJo and Bruce's wedding fifty-six years ago!Not only was the weather perfect for Easter bonnets, but these classic fashion statements also put us in the mood for the upcoming royal wedding.

St. Vincent's Prom: The following Friday I was up at 3:30 am to watch every moment of coverage of the royal wedding. Except for Princess Beatrice's hat, the occasion was perfect. Enchanting. Splendid.

Really, what was she thinking?
She needed to browse JoJo's box.

By the time it was over, I needed a nap. But that wasn't in the cards for me because I had to make a spaghetti casserole for the arrival of more relatives (see the next section). Then Davis had to get ready for prom. Yes, his prom was last weekend, but his girlfriend, Megan, invited him to her school's prom Friday night. Once Davis had duded up again in Stephen's tux (this time with a cummerbund rather than a vest), we followed him to Megan's house and then to the yacht club for another photo session. Don't they look handsome/lovely? What a good looking couple they are!

The Relatives Came: Once Davis and Megan were off to the prom, Stephen and I came back to the house for the arrival of the Harley Lawson family as well as Skippy! We had a fun-filled weekend of the beach, low-country boil, yoga (Harley's favorite part), and miniature golf!

First of all, I think Skippy went to the golf course for a few practice sessions before she came to Savannah. She could swing that club like a pro. What's more, I have decided that Asher has professional golf in his future. The video below serves as evidence supporting my conclusion. Look at that grip. That stance. That swing! When he's slipping on that green jacket a couple of decades from now, I'll have this video on hand to sell to the highest bidding sports magazine!

Harley got a little sunburned. I got a little fat. Asher got a hole in one! And Lawson got the blue ball in the center pocket. All indications of a fantastic weekend. We were sorry to see everyone go, and we hope they will all come back real soon.

Finis: Anna Karenina

2011-04-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

Mom was right. Part VIII is anticlimactic. In fact, I think that's an understatement. About four pages are devoted to the aftermath of Anna's death, and then the next 100 are devoted to Vronksy thinking.

First of all, I'll discuss the aftermath, since that's the most interesting part of Book VIII anyway. Because Anna is dead, we can no longer view events (when there actually are events) from Anna's point of view. So from whose perspective does Tolstoy tell the rest of the story? Not Vronsky's. No, that would be too easy. And not Karenin's, probably because the fraudulent psychic and Lidia had him in a trance. No, we get to hear the rest of the story from Vronsky's mother, whom we haven't heard from since about Book III.

The only positive thing I can say about reading from Countess Vronsky's perspective is that we learn the apple doesn't fall far from the Vronsky tree. Vronsky and Anna couldn't hold a candle to the countess's self-involvement. When Levin's brother, Sergey Ivanovitch, runs into the countess at the train station, and as soon as she has someone who will listen, she says, "Oh, you have no idea what I've been through!" And then she tells the story of about what her son has been through. Apparently Vronsky's grief exacted a great toll on his mother.

So this is what happened: Anna knelt in front of the train. Vronsky had to go to the train station to recover her body. He was prostrate with grief for weeks. Karenin took Anna's baby daughter, because even though she wasn't biologically Karenin's, she was legally his because he and Anna had never divorced. Vronsky remained in a grieved state until political unrest developed in Serbia, to which many Russian soldiers volunteered to travel to offer support. Vronsky was one of them, and he was at the train station with his mother when they came upon Sergey Ivanovitch.

And that's all we get to know about that. As for the other 127 pages of Part VIII, I've written one-sentence synopses of each chapter, and they go like this:

Sergey Ivanovitch spent six years writing a book, which nobody read. He decides to visit his brother Levin.
At the train station, Sergey Ivanovitch encounters Vronsky departing to Serbia to war.
On the train, Sergey's friend Katavasov meets some soldiers and doesn't like them. How is any of this content relevant to the story? And why does Tolstoy introduce a new character now?
Countess Vronsky tells Sergey how awful Anna's death has been on her.
Sergey talks to Vronsky, who is still traumatized by Anna's death. We learn what happened when he went to the train station after hearing of Anna's suicide.
Sergey and Katavasov arrive at Levin's farm. Kitty welcomes them, then goes to breast feed her baby.
Kitty contemplates her husband's lack of religious faith.
Levin contemplates his religious ambivalence.
Sometimes Levin is so confused and troubled by his ambivalence that he considers suicide--how extreme. But he doesn't kill himself because he loves his wife and child. Levin is the king of overanalysis.
Levin, religion, blah, blah, blah.
It's harvest time. Levin throws himself into his work.But when a peasant inadvertently answers Levin's spiritual questions, Levin doesn't want to listen. Stupid Levin.
More over analysis.
Thank God! Levin finally figures out all he really needs to know he learned in kindergarten!
Having finally figured out his faith, Levin takes a walk with Dolly, Sergey, and Katavasov. They go to the bee house.
Levin and his visitors discuss people's decisions to volunteer to support the Serbians, like Vronsky has.
Levin argues with Katavasov and gets irritated with him.
A terrible storm blows up and the party makes it home just in time, only to learn that Kitty is out in the woods with the baby and nurse. Levin goes to find them. Lightning strikes a tree and it falls, but not on Kitty. They're all right. This is the most exciting chapter in all of Part VIII.
Kitty bathes the baby. She and Levin realize that the baby recognizes their faces.
And they all lived happily ever after. Except Anna.

And there you have it, my readers. Now you don't even have to read Part VIII of Anna Karenina.

If Susan Baldwin decides to finish this novel, I will give her a medal. And then we will discuss how this novel became a classic work of literature. My guess is that there was not much else to read at the time.

And now on to other novels. My next pic is Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith.

Part VII: Anna Karenina

2011-04-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

If your name is Susan Baldwin, consider this a spoiler alert. While you may already know Anna's outcome, I don't want to spoil the rest of the novel for you. Keep reading Anna Karenina, and come back to this posting when you're done.

The rest of my avid readers will be glad to know that I've finished Part VII of Anna Karenina, and I've read about a dozen chapters of Part VIII (chapters are only a couple of pages long, so it's easy to get through a dozen). I have 30 pages to go in the book, and I'll be so glad when I've finished it.

As critical as I've been of the book lately, I found Part VII especially satisfying. That's because Anna dies.

I know that sounds horrible. I'm not glad Anna threw herself in front of a train. Instead, I found this portion of the book satisfying because Tolstoy told so well the story of a woman's downward spiral through depression and into the deepest despair. Reading Part VII gave me that "hindsight is twenty-twenty" feeling. As frustrated as I was with Anna all through the book, once she committed suicide, I reflected on her previous self-involvement, and it all made sense.

Anna never matures. When we first meet her in Part I, she advises Dolly to remain with her philandering husband, Anna's brother, and in 1000 pages that's the only thing she does that centers on someone else's needs or problems. From then on, Anna's behaviors are entirely self-focused, at the expense of those she claims to love the most. So at the end of the novel, when her selfishness turns into jealousy over an imaginary woman, she won't stop with her own misery, but must make Vronsky miserable with her, deciding to end her life to "punish him and escape from every one and from [her]self."

For several chapters leading up to Anna's end, Tolstoy focused on Anna's depression, revealing how Vronsky attempted to satisfy her to no avail. By creating problems to worry about, Anna dug herself into a hole from which she couldn't climb out, and Tolstoy's prose depicted that decline so perfectly, having her alternate between self-loathing and projecting anger onto others. One moment, Anna "blame[s] herself for the humiliation to which she ha[s] lowered herself," but then just a few minutes later, Anna feels "that sense of mortification and of being an outcast, which she ha[s] felt so distinctly on meeting Kitty," when in fact, Kitty finds her "charming" and "lovely," though "awfully piteous." When Anna decides to go to Vronsky (who is at his mother's), on the way to the station she views a couple on the street, and she projects her misery onto them: "They made inane and affected remarks to one another, entirely for her benefit. Anna saw clearly that they were sick of each other and hated each other. And no one could have helped hating such miserable monstrosities." All through these chapters leading up to Anna's death, Tolstoy builds up tension with Anna's roller-coaster of emotions.

And that tension continues even as Anna stands at the railroad tracks because she mucks up the deed on her first attempt: "She tried to fling herself below the wheels of the first carriage as it reached her; but the red bag which she tried to drop out of her hand delayed her, and she was too late; she missed the moment" (At that moment I recalled Vronksy's failed suicide attempt earlier in the book). Then when she does finally kneel in front of the train, Tolstoy depicts that confused moment so well: "And the light by which she had read the book filled with troubles, falsehoods, sorry, and evil, flared up more brightly than ever before, lighted up for her all that had been in darkness, flickered, began to grow dim, and was quenched forever."

And so ends Part VII.

Sadly, what Anna never realizes his how much her sister in-law Dolly admires her and how much she's influenced her. When Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin contemplates divorcing Anna, it's Dolly who stands up for her, remembering how Anna convinced her to remain in her marriage. Much later, after Oblonsky has continued his money-spending, philandering ways, leaving Dolly and her children at the mercy of Kitty and Levin, Dolly visits Anna and Vronsky at their country estate and admires how Anna and Vronsky carry on like a devoted, married couple. After observing their lives, Dolly questions whether she should have stayed her husband. Later, we see her standing up for herself more. For instance, in Part VII, Oblonsky, short on cash, much shorter on sense, asks his wife to sign over some of her property to him. She refuses because of Anna's influence. It's a round-about way of being a role-model, but as Anna contradicts the advice she gave Dolly, she demonstrates the results of acting in one's self-interest. The only difference is that Anna's decisions were entirely motivated by love; Dolly's are motivated by survival.

So now I'm on Part VII, the final book of the novel. My mom warned me I'd find it anti-climactic, as it's all about Levin, whom I love, but there's only so much I can read about a character's indecision about his religious faith. Several chapters revolve around Levin's ambivalence, and they have him doing absolutely nothing. Just thinking.

So I will push through these last 30 pages. As quickly as possible. I'm ready to pick up my summer reading books.

Just in Case You Didn't See Today's Paper

2011-04-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

The BC Cadets lacrosse team is the team of the week! Look at this swell photo! Davis is on the bottom row, all the way to the right. Go, #16! This photo is courtesy of Pamela Veiock, special to Savannah Morning News. I wanted to connect the article to my blog, but I've forgotten my savannahnow.com username and password. So here's the article:

By Mark Beasley

Team Name: Cadets

School: Benedictine

Grade level: Ninth-12th

Sport: Lacrosse

League: South Carolina Independent School Association

Coaches: Carl Moore and Dick McAllaster

News: Ricky McAllaster was a 15-year-old BC standout lacrosse player who was tragically killed in a car accident on Jan. 1, 2010. He was a significant factor in the formation of the Benedictine lacrosse team.

The 28-member Cadets lacrosse team finished their 2010 inaugural season in second place with a final record of 5-5.

This season, they were 6-2 and in second place in the SCISA.

Players: Jacob Adair, Jack Autry, Thomas Ballew, Steven Barbose, Thomas Barrow, Sean Boyle, James Clark, Logan Clark, Bobby Crider, Jackson Dibrell, Alex Finkle, Lloyd Hodges, Matthew Johnson, Robert Kenny, Kyle Leonhardt, Aidan Mahoney, T.J. Mahoney, Hunter McJenkin, Zack Park, Charles Raley, Mark Reavis, Davis Remler, J.P. Sheffield, Samuel Silverman, Ben Summerlin, Logan Wilkinson, Joseph Willoughby and Chris Woiwode.

Next up: The team is finishing their 2011 season with league games. The postseason tournament opens April 27 at BC. If the Cadets are fortunate enough to win in the opening round, they will advance to the finals on May 7 at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

Contact: Pamella.Veiock@BCSav.net

If you’d like to nominate either a youth or adult league team as a Team of the Week feature, please contact Mark Beasley at 912-312-0749 or via e-mail at markbeasley.goodsports@yahoo.com.

Lawson at 12, Davis at Prom

2011-04-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

This was a big weekend at the Remler household.

First, Lawson turned 12. Having already submitted our tax forms, we focused solely on the birthday of our second born. Lawson invited his three friends, Matt, Mills, and Drew, over to spend the night. After a filling fried fish lunch, we all went out to Pooler, GA to watch the BC Cadets play Savannah Lacrosse. It was a close game, and a bit of a disappointment, but we didn't let that ruin our evening. Back on Wilmington Island, we measured the height of all four boys while we waited for Davis to shower.

Then we lit up some candles on a chocolate cake and sang Happy Birthday to Lawson. His gift was a digital camera. Contact lenses are also part of the deal, but he does seem to be smitten with those big, black Harry Potter glasses.

After a satisfying sugar high, all four boys piled into the extra bedroom upstairs and stayed up til the wee hours watching movies on Netflix.

Then Saturday rolled around, and the focus turned to Davis. First, he and Stephen drove to Beaufort, SC for another lacrosse match (another close disappointment). By the time they got home, Davis's calves had wrought vengeance on him. He came into the house limping so bad that I thought someone had run over him. A soak in the tub with some epsom salts did the trick; then it was time to doll up for BC prom night.

Davis wore Stephen's tuxedo, but he had rented a vest and tie to match Megan's dress. Stephen and I helped Davis put on his great-grandfather's cuff links.

Then we plumped up his tie with some cotton balls. He looked right spiffy! And Megan looked lovely with her up-do and her strappy sandals. Don't they make a handsome couple?

They dined at Ele before driving in PopPop's Cadillac to the Jepson Center to dance the night away.

Tonight was Elizabeth Dixon's prom night too! She and her boyfriend Pete Beagle looked so handsome in basic black.

We hope everyone has a fun but safe night!

Lawson Performs in Living Stations

2011-04-16T08:51:00.001-07:00

The second grade of St. Peter the Apostle School performed the living stations of the cross every Friday during Lent. Because no second graders were big enough to lift a dead Jesus, Lawson and Mills Thompson were recruited to play the role of the guards. The following two videos show his performance:

I smell a Tony!

Anna Karenina: The Nether Parts

2011-04-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid my friend Susan has put down Anna Karenina. Not that I can blame her. While the first four or five parts, while frustrating, kept the story moving more or less along, Part VI brought the novel to a screeching halt. The first half of Part VII isn't much better.

I know it's a world classic. And for that reason, I'm a little ashamed of being so critical of it. And I'm going to make myself finish it. But right now, this book does only one thing for me: it confirms my opinion that no book--not one--needs to be 1170 pages long.

The novel has been sitting on my night stand, looking lonely, for about two weeks, but I haven't had the strength to pick it up, preferring instead to watch HBO's recent miniseries Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet might play a good Anna Karenina). But yesterday, I forced myself to read ten pages, telling myself that the longer I leave the book sitting, the longer it will be before I can read something more interesting, like the new tax code.

I take notes as I read, and recent notes are telling of the way the book holds my interest. For instance, at the beginning of Part IV, I've written several paragraphs, such as the following: "It's funny that Alexey Alexandrovitch (Karenin) cares what the servants think, only to grant a divorce but to take the blame. Meanwhile, despondent Vronsky tries to shoot himself, but misses, causing only a wound. What an idiot!" In other places, I draw little surprised faces, especially in instances of foreshadowing, like the following: "I shall die. I've had a dream" and "She showed him how he had moved his hands. There was terror in her face. And Vronsky, remembering his dream, felt the same terror filling his soul."

But in the later parts of the book, my notes turn into one-sentence chapter summaries. And even they're boring:

Levin and Kitty move to Moscow for Kitty's confinement. Levin doesn't like the city.
Levin goes to visit a friend to talk about politics and agricultural economics.
Levin goes to visit Lvov.
Levin goes to a concert.
Levin reluctantly pays a social call and has insipid conversations.

The end of Part VI has Levin attending the municipal elections, which take several days (and just as many chapters). All the while Levin isn't the least bit interested in what's going on. Now, I understand these chapters help set up the culmination of Levin's story (because my mom told me that at the end he'll finally come to terms with what he believes). But does it have to take five or six chapters to get that idea across? I doubt it.

Note to Tolstoy: If your character is bored, your reader is bored too. Just sayin'.

The interesting things that happen are as follows:

Kitty's mother, sister, nieces and nephews move in with the Levins for the summer, much to Levin's dismay. Though he loves his in-laws, he suffers from too much togetherness.
The reason Dolly et al. have come to stay is that Dolly's philandering husband Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky has not provided her enough money to maintain her own household.
When Oblonsky does show up, he brings along his obnoxious friend Veslovsky, who, on a bird hunt, manages to get Levin's wagon stuck in the mud and then returns to the homestead to make passes at Kitty. Levin, much to my satisfaction, asks Veslovsky to leave.
Dolly takes a day trip to visit Anna and Vronsky, who have set up housekeeping at Vronsky's country home. Vronsky has decided to become a landed aristocrat. That's fine, except that in Part II (or so), he was out of money, his mother had stopped providing for him, and he had resigned his commission in the army. So where is he getting the money to renovate the hospital on his estate? I'm confused.
Now the Levins are in Moscow, and Levin is just about over his boredom. He has gone to a gentleman's club, where he ran into Oblonsky and Vronsky. Oblonsky begged Levin to be friends with Vronsky, and so they shook hands. Then Oblonsky took Levin to meet Anna, who captivated him with her charm and beauty. Now Levin is on his way home to Kitty, and I don't know what he's going to say to her about meeting the famous Anna.
Oh, and by the way, Anna and Oblonsky are back in Moscow because Anna has finally agreed, after much begging from Vronsky, to ask Karenin for a divorce.

So Susan, as much as I'd like to discuss Anna Karenina with you, I completely understand why you may have put it down. But if you decide to pick it up again, feel free to skip the last half of Part VI and the first half of Part VII.

Only 165 pages to go!

The Great Clean-Up

2011-04-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

Our house has been on the market for 15 months. During that time, three people have looked at it. Yesterday was the first time in more than a year that someone had come to take a peek. We've become so unaccustomed to visiting realtors that we got a little relaxed in our housekeeping.

Lawson especially.

Not that he was ever Mr. Neato Mosquito. His closet has always qualified for an episode of Hoarders. Although some folks in his maternal lineage tend to hold on to mementos for sentimental reasons, Lawson's tendency to keep stuff has more to do with his throwing it in his super big closet and forgetting about it. A couple of summers ago, Stephen, Davis and I kept noticing a strange odor at the top of the stairs. When Stephen decided to find out the cause, he discovered, after much investigative work, a two month-old egg salad sandwich in an old lunchbox, which Lawson had thrown into his closet at the end of the school year. Wearing a gas mask, Stephen tossed the lunch box out with the sandwich, and all was well for a day or two until we realized the smell upstairs hadn't gone away. Back to the closet. More spelunking turned up a three month-old tuna sandwich in another lunchbox. Tossing that one out required the haz-mat suit.

Fast forward to yesterday when the phone rang and a real estate agent asked to bring a client to our house. We pulled out the Endust and got to work, and Lawson, much to our surprise, asked Stephen to help him clean out his closet. Stephen can't resist the opportunity to get rid of old stuff, so father and son put a hurtin' on the closet shelves. I would have been crazy not to document the process in photographs.

We found a jacket, now too small, that Lawson had never worn.

We discovered multiple remote controls and chargers. What they control and charge, we have no idea.

And the trash. Lawson can collect more trash. It's like he's never heard of the garbage can. A sleeping bag full of toys, clothes, games, and electronics went to the Goodwill. A basket of clothes went to the laundry room, and two trash bags full of I-don't-know-what went to the dumpster.

Now Lawson can fit his shoes in his closet!

Meanwhile, Davis sat in his room and did his homework. Looks like his room is next.

After the Green Day, Blue Men

2011-03-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

To end my spring break with a bang, I decided to take my sons to Orlando, Florida for twenty-four hours of fun. Davis and Lawson have wanted to see the Blue Man Group for several years, and this year, we decided to make that happen.

We got up early Saturday morning and drove to Orlando, where we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort near Sea World. I reserved a room with a king bed and a pull-out couch so that all three of us would have plenty of sleeping room. However, Hilton decided to give us much more than that. Our suite came equipped with a full kitchen, a Jacuzzi tub, and a washer and dryer. If I wanted I could do all the housework I usually do at home! What fun!

Actually, the washer/dryer came in handy because we had a pre-concert swim and dried our bathing suits that night.

Here's our room.

Here's the view of the pool from our room, Lawson in said pool, and Davis sitting beside said pool:

But the really fun part was seeing the Blue Men in concert. And after it was over, one of them left his blue thumbprint on Lawson's program, and Davis took a Blue Man photo.

Many friends and relatives have asked me, "What is the Blue Man Group?" Well, that's hard to explain. They're blue. They're men. They're in a group.

"But what do they do?" people ask.

Well, they play percussion on PVC pipes. They catch gumballs and Stay-Puft marshmallows in their mouths. They eat lots of Cap'n Crunch. And they really like their toilet paper.

Perhaps the best way to explain the Blue Man Group is to just show you:

They were a lot of fun. And now, spring break is over. Maybe my students will like me more if I shoot confetti into the classroom from a PVC cannon.

Green Day

2011-03-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

While I've attended many St. Patrick's Day parades in Savannah, today I went to see one thing:

Davis Remler, the Brigade Command Sergeant Major of the Benedictine Cadets.

I call him Lloyd.

Doesn't he look handsome? Some of my out-of-town readers may wonder if my son had been practicing for clown school prior to donning his military uniform. Actually, the red smudges are part of an old Savannah tradition. As the cadets march by, the girls slather on lipstick--the redder the better--and kiss the BC boys. Because Davis marches by himself out front, he's prime real estate on the parade route.

Oddly enough, it was the lipstick extravaganza that brought out the mother bear in me. Not that I mind the girls kissing on him so much, but when a proud mama is trying to get a shot of her son marching in the parade, she gets a little irritable when females repeatedly jump into her shot. I sat patiently by as Davis's cousins leaped on him, and his female contemporaries quickly smooched before darting back to the sidewalk. But when a woman about my age made her way toward him just as he was about to pass me by, I surprised myself by yelling at her, "Move, lady! Move out of the way!"

She did. When mama wants a picture of her boy, she gets it.
In a few years, I'll be shoving women in the middle of Abercorn to get a picture of this cadet-to-be.

Of course, I saw other friends in the parade, too. The fried chicken was plentiful, weather was beautiful, and thanks to Zyrtec, the pollen was tolerable. Another successful St. Patrick's Day parade.

BC Ring Day!

2011-03-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that all juniors at BC anticipate! Sabra's birthday! They all gather around a huge cake and sing "Happy Birthday" followed by the BC fight song.

As much as I'd like that to be true, the reason the boys really anticipate this day is that they receive their class rings. Unlike most American high schools, BC makes a production out of getting the class ring. There's a ceremony with a speaker (a BC alum), songs, prayer, and a reception afterward. Sons of BC alums can have their fathers present the rings to them. Many BC sons wear their fathers' rings, and that's what Davis did.

Davis had a large cheering section. Of course, Stephen was there to present the ring, and I was there to take the photos. JoJo and Bruce came for the event, as well as prom date contestant #1, Megan, who graciously sacrificed a day of school to see her beau get his ring. Awww. I caught Davis's ring presentation on video (It's not hi-def, but you'll still feel like you're there with me). Stephen was smart enough to make sure Davis smiled for the camera. Go, Stephen!

After the ceremony, the juniors got the rest of the day off, so after the obligatory photo sessions, they shot out of that cafeteria like it was on fire so they could get to the beach. Many rings went to the beach too. I wonder how many will make it home. Stephen and I urged Davis not to take his ring to the beach, but I just checked Davis's room. The ring isn't there. Is it at Tybee Island collecting grains of sand among those tiny engravings? I hope instead it's locked inside JoJo's house.

Decisions, Decisions...

2011-03-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Davis can't decide whom to take to the prom. Who gets your vote?

Contestant #1:
A real cutie with a bubbly personality, this young lady also has a
strong set of morals, vowing never to date boys who chew tobacco.

Contestant #2:
A good cook and devoted church goer, but don't let this contestant fool you.
She likes to party til the cows come home.

Submit your vote using the survey on the right (if you're reading this posting via Facebook, go to http://remlerville.blogspot.com).