As usual, our visit to the Savannah area was a mixture of fun, friends, family and fall visits to doctors.\u00a0 Barb and I saw our skin doctor and our optometrist, where we conceded that our ten-year old Lasik surgeries had finally expired:\u00a0 we both needed and got eyeglasses.\u00a0 Barb had her annual mammogram.\u00a0 (I decided I didn\u2019t need one.)\u00a0 We updated our wills. \u00a0I got a haircut, an operation that would not normally warrant any comment. \u00a0Barb usually cuts my hair, since we are normally on our boat. \u00a0So I have no “usual” barber in the Savannah area. \u00a0Barb had an errand to run, so I thought I would drop into the next barber shop we saw and get it cut while she ran off to do her thing. \u00a0We found one in Pooler called “Beauty & Barber”. \u00a0I walked in, and found that the two barbers were African American, as was the female waiting patiently for a “beauty” customer. \u00a0The chief barber invited me to sit down, and said he would get to me next. \u00a0 Both barbers were busy cutting the hair of African American customers. \u00a0Their hair was being close-cut. \u00a0Very close-cut. \u00a0Patterns were being cut into their hair: \u00a0curly lines completely shorn of any covering.<\/p>\n
When it was my turn, the chief barber introduced himself as “Pop”, and asked how I wanted my haircut. \u00a0 I said I only wanted the sides and back shortened a little, with very little taken off the top. \u00a0(I have migrated away from the buzz cut that I sported in earlier years, and rather like the longer look.) \u00a0Pop asked if I wanted the sides tapered. I responded in the affirmative, visualizing the alternative as a style that would look as if a bowl had been placed on my head and only the hair below the rim of the bowl had been shortened. \u00a0When Pop made his first cut, I knew I had made a mistake, but that it was too late. \u00a0He started in front of my ear and made a cut that extended all the way down to my skin in depth, and extended all the way up the side of my head in length. \u00a0 And then for 20 agonizing minutes he worked on the sides and back, pushing down firmly and repeatedly, until the areas were every bit as short as that of his former customer. \u00a0And then, mindful of at least of a bit of my initial request, he \u00a0took only a little too much off the top. \u00a0The total cost: \u00a0only $10 dollars. \u00a0When I exited the shop, I found Barb waiting for me in the car. \u00a0She found my appearance and the broad smile on my face to be more than a little contradictory, but hey, if one cannot laugh at oneself …<\/p>\n
We drove out to our old stomping grounds near Richmond Hill, and were relieved to see that our former home was in much better shape than the last time we checked up on it.\u00a0 A mile further down the road is Ft. McAlister Marina, where the new owners have further enhanced the docks and the associated restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n We had lunch with Dick & Karen Munson.\u00a0 We had lunch with Steve & Beth Ellis.\u00a0 We had lunch with Joy Reed.\u00a0 We had dinner with Mike & Iris Dayoub.\u00a0 We spent a lot of time with our daughter Danielle and her two girls Abbie & Kristen, including a multi-day trip to extreme southern Georgia to spend some time at Cumberland Island \u2013 a trip that deserves its own blog.\u00a0 (See the next post.)<\/span><\/p>\n All of these activities left us with a sense of accomplishment and a sense of satisfaction \u2013 it is good to take care of life\u2019s responsibilities and great to see friends and family.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t