Cottage Green on the Lake…Summer Re-Cap 2023

Our summer days are always so busy, I never seem to get a chance to write on my blog until the new school year has begun. Today, before I can embrace September and begin writing about all things autumn, I’m writing about our summer. Wanderlust and floating on the lake days…watermelon and homemade ice cream days…lots of red, white, and blue days…hammock and firework days…sandy toes and sunburned nose days. Summer days that were forged in a blaze of heat that faded into sultry evenings and the beautiful blue of twilight would descend upon the lake and the fireflies would flick on, one by one.

Ah, but after sundown, that’s when those brilliant flirts, the fireflies come out.

Vivian Swift

The day after Memorial Day Richard and I headed to Mississippi to see our dear friend, Pat Ray in Eupora, Mississippi. It was so good to see Pat! While we were there we got a heapin’ helping of Southern hospitality, our fill of sweet tea, plenty of “hugs around the neck” and we loved every minute of it…though seeing Pat again, made saying “goodbye”even harder.

Saying goodbye, going away 
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching a hand, wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye.

~The Muppets

From Mississippi we drove to the Savannah, Georgia. Richard and I had never been to Savannah before and didn’t want to miss any of the historical places, so we booked a land and river cruise with Gray Line Tours. On the first part of the tour we rode a trolley to see the city and the picturesque town squares of Savannah. The town squares were shady under the branches of dramatic oak trees and were outlined with rows of azalea bushes…glimpses of walkways, water fountains, and bronze statues beckoned through the wispy curtains of moss that hung from the trees.

After the trolley tour of the city was finished, we boarded the Georgia Queen for the rest of our tour, which included lunch and a cruise down the Marsh Island Channel and Savannah River on a beautifully, restored paddle driven riverboat. The Georgia Queen is majestic, painted and trimmed in the traditional red, white, and blue of the antebellum riverboats, has 2 grand dining rooms with large, crystal chandeliers (now equipped with air conditioning!) and has a 3rd, open-air viewing deck. Richard and I had a dining table right next to the windows and were able to view all the sights our Captain pointed out while we ate lunch…chicken salad on croissants, a fruit cup, and iced tea.

Toward the end of our riverboat cruise, we sat outside on the benches that were on the boat’s deck. When our riverboat was easing up to the dock, a street trombonist began playing “The Star Spangled Banner.” It was the perfect ending of our cruise.
After we got off, we got on another trolley and rode over to St. John the Baptist Cathedral. We’d passed by the cathedral when we were on the trolley tour earlier that morning, and Richard and I wanted to see the inside of the church. Tip: If you book with Gray Line Tours, after you’ve taken your tour of the city you can still use the trolley, free of charge, to visit any of the restaurants, or places in historical Savannah that are on the trolley map – the free trolley rides are valid only for the day that your ticket was purchased.

St. John the Baptist Cathedral church was finished in April 1876 and is very impressive with beautiful spires, brilliant white paint and gold trim, and it’s impressive height of 214 feet.

The inside of St. John the Baptist Cathedral is even more stunning with 81 stained glass windows and notably, is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the United States of America.

The gorgeous pipe organ in St. John the Baptist Cathedral is displayed in the balcony directly beneath what is known as the Rose Window. Depicted in the center of the Rose Window is the patroness of music, St. Cecilia. There are 10 stained glasses surrounding the center glass of St. Cecilia and these 10 stained glassed windows all portray angels playing musical instruments.

When we lived in Germany, I loved touring the churches in Europe…we saw many beautiful cathedrals in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, as well as the Notre-Dame in Paris, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. I was happily surprised that this beautiful cathedral in Savanna, Georgia rivaled any of the cathedrals we had seen overseas.

From Savannah, Georgia we headed to Florida to see Bill Barker (Buster) for a long-awaited reunion. The last time Richard and Buster had seen each other was after their helicopter was shot down over the jungles of Viet Nam, 52 years ago. (Click here to read the full story) This was going to be a very poignant meeting for Buster and Richard…and for me. ❤

Buster’s brother, John, greeted us warmly outside when we pulled up to Buster’s house…then came our long-anticipated moment and Buster stepped out the door. After that, all was a flurry of hugs and emotions, claps on the back, and heart tugging moments.

“Brother’s In Arms” forever…Richard and Buster

After we’d visited for some time and the conversation moved to lighter topics, Buster wanted us to meet Ann, his friend since school days, and he called her to come join us. Ann was a delight and after visiting awhile, Buster wanted us to meet more of his family that lived nearby.

The area where Buster lived was a part of Florida I’d never seen before. It was wild and beautiful, unlike the beaches of Florida we were accustomed to seeing. We drove down lanes covered with sand, past groves of orange trees in sunny fields, then our pathway would wind back to the shade of trees covered with moss. I was amazed to see beautiful palmetto palms and ferns growing wild everywhere I looked. The writer within me loved the mystic appeal and charm of it all.

We met Buster’s daughter, Tammy, and her husband, Mike, and their sweet granddaughter, Aubreiana and warmed to all of them immediately. Earlier that Sunday morning in church, little Aubreiana had her water baptismal and was telling me about it, her eyes shining with emotion as we talked about Jesus. Then more of Buster’s family came over…Buster’s sister, Doris…his brother, Mike and his wife, Diane. The time we spent together flew by and was filled with laughter, tales of long ago, our shared love of God, our Country, the sacrifices of our military men, women, and their families, and what Richard and Buster meant to all of us…our eyes and hearts were filled.

Interesting side note: After we left, and appropriately on July 4th, Buster’s granddaughter, Savanna, (Tammy and Mike’s daughter) enlisted in the Marines…and another generation of Buster’s family, reflecting honor, patriotism and sacrifice, reported for duty. ❤

Saying goodbye
Why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say
Foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye

~The Muppets

After our visit with Buster was over, Richard and I took some time for ourselves and headed to the sugary, white sand beaches and aqua blue waters of Destin, Florida.

A late game of baseball on the beach, with twilight descending in gorgeous shades of blue.

THEN IT WAS JULY…

God bless America, my home, sweet home.

Irving Berlin

It will be celebrated with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

John Adams

July 4th Celebrations at Cottage Green on the Lake.

"Times spent with family,
Long summer days,
Here for a moment 
Then gone in a haze."

~ Angela Jeff
 excerpt from "New Year Poem"

After all vestiges of our 4th of July celebration had been washed, sorted, stacked, and stored away, we headed out on our annual summer family vacation to Branson, Missouri. Our son and his wife were asked to work at the school during our scheduled family vacation time, with an incentive and summer bonus that was too good to pass up, so this year it was just the 4 of us…Richard, myself, our daughter and oldest granddaughter. ❤

THEN IT WAS AUGUST and the days were blistering hot, with our temperatures here in Texas climbing to 105…108…and 111 and we had the highest temperatures ever recorded in Texas history!

"It is a hot, hot night, too hot to sleep.  Oh, if only I had a better pillow, made of snow and violets, I could rest and dream of January."

~ Vivian Swift

Our feathered friends seemed to be particularly hungry during this heat wave, or it was so hot they didn’t want to spend the energy foraging for food. Each day I made sure the hummingbird and bird feeders were filled, and the birdbath had fresh water, especially since we have a whole batch of Cardinals and all their cousins living in our backyard! The Momma and Papa Cardinals love building their nests in our holly bushes since the prickly leaves of the holly protect their babies from predators and berry snacks are within easy reach, right outside their nest! The other day we counted 15 cardinals flying into their homes in our holly bushes! All during the hot days of August we made sure to finish any outside chores before noon…spent lazy summer afternoons inside… and were thankful for air conditioning. It was so hot, even the locust stopped serenading us from the treetops and dinners were easy affairs with garden fresh tomatoes, black-eyed peas, crookneck squash, corn on the cob, and raspberry tea in abundance.

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.

Sam Keen

Speaking of corn on the cob... (: You know how I love to use everyday pieces in unusual and unique ways? See the antique banana split trays on the table in the picture below? The evening I was writing this post, I was cleaning the silk off of fresh ears of corn. I was mulling over what I had in the cupboard that I could use to keep the corn cobs from rolling on our plates, when, “Voila!” I thought of our banana split trays! Y’all…these are the best and cutest corn on the cob trays ever! They not only kept the corn cobs from rolling all over our plates, but the shallow sides of the tray held the butter that melted and dripped down the corn. Instead of having to repeatedly butter our corn, we used the melted butter in our trays to roll our corn in. It’s our new/old favorite kitchen accessory! (:

Then suddenly, summer was over…

Another summer set into glorious sunset and in the morning, September arose.  

~Trenda

And now, “we’re in the last days of September.”

Open up the window
I'm breathing in the last of September
I can feel the wind blow
And the late summer sky is like a giant ember
Everything is turning into gold
When the autumn leaves are playing, chasing
It puts a smile upon my face...
Dancing through the last days of September

"Last Days of September" by Giant Ember

From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda

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