Good Friday, 2010

I rearranged my schedule today and met with my clients at 11:00, then headed home to see where Cindy was in trying to get ready to leave for Calloway Gardens for the afternoon. We missed the Good Friday service at 12:15, but we headed over to Pine Mountain and stopped at my favorite Georgia barbecue joint, Three Little Pigs, and ordered three barbecue sandwich platters with three large cups of sweet tea and two extra containers of barbecued beans, then headed over to the entrance into the gardens and ultimately wound our way around the roads through the gardens to the Azalea Bowl and the picnic tables for lunch al fresco.

The azaleas weren't very far along. Only the cherry trees were in full bloom. In the middle of the Sibley Center there were three magnificent cherry trees in full bloom and the bees, all different varieties were buzzing around the blossoms. I sat under the spread of the branches and watched the bees swarming around.

There were topiaries in the shape of bunnies and chicks and other indicia of the secular side of the Easter weekend. Kind of silly, in a way. Such a strange, silly way to celebrate the execution of a man who claimed to be the Son of God, then to throw our faith in the idea that he was raised from the dead. That is pretty heavy. More heavy than bunnies and chicks.

Callaway was pretty, even though it seemed that pollen was swarming around like smoke clouds. The day was very warm for April. The thermometer in the car read 83 at one point. But the barbecue lunch and the walk around the gardens were sweet.

At one point we walked down to a stone pavilion on one of the lakes and talking to a couple with two little dogs finishing their lunch along the lakeside. We had the remnants of the bun from Cindy's sandwich and Kate and Cindy and I threw the pieces at several mallards and numerous turtles who fought each other for the scraps. Soon, bream and bass were swimming beneath to catch some of the soggy crumbs. It was fun to watch all the wildlife, tame as they were, fighting for the crumbs.

It didn't last, but it was fun while we were there and Kate and Cindy enjoyed the dogs.

We have shared a meal of arugula salad with a lemon and oil dressing, then seared tuna and now I am going into the kitchen to cut slices of key lime pie. What a delightful end to the day.