A few years ago, as we drew near Good Friday, there was a great image circulating online. It was a head, half of which wore a crown of thorns, the other half a crown of gold. The caption said, “A lot can change in three days.” I once again find myself preoccupied with the convergence of God’s plan and promises fulfilled.
Car enthusiasts of all walks are welcome to attend this community event each month at Habersham Village—because who doesn't love cars and coffee?
“I think. I am. I will.” One of my favorite quotes from Ayn Rand’s novella ‘Anthem”, which is about a society in which freedom, individual rights, values and thinking have been abolished. Today M5T celebrates one of the most precious gifts that we can give ourselves. The gift of thinking.
A couple of weeks ago I was back up in north Georgia with a client. Over the years I have spent a lot of time working up there and it was a pleasure to drive back to Savannah on backroads. “In the Air Tonight” came on XM, and I turned it up to ear-bleed, speaker damaging levels. A big grin crossed my lips as I recalled many such drives in the past and this M5T in particular from over 6 years ago, and I wanted to share it with you once again.
It’s that time of year again. And no, I’m not taking about having to brush off inch-thick yellow pollen off of our cars. Savannah’s population is over 7% of Irish descent. On this week in March, everyone in Savannah is Irish.
It was a year ago this month that we first started to realize the changes that Covid would make to our lives. Little did we know just how radically our lives would be affected. Given this is the month of Ides, you may want to consider pulling out your copy of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, throw a social distanced toga party and pour copious amounts of wine as the Romans were want to do. With a nod to the Ides, this morning’s M5T takes a lighter look at life during this pandemic.
It took me a moment to realize what was happening. The first field I drove by had farm tractors parked at the edge of the fields, perfectly aligned and facing the road. For all my travels throughout this part of Georgia, I had never seen equipment parked like this.
Directions. Choices. Hundreds of them. Every day we choose to take one direction over another. To go one way or another. Today’s M5T reconsiders the alternatives of taking one way or another.
I found myself wondering these past few weeks about what joy, pride and trials the first Presidents faced leading a new nation. Five Presidents for the first, almost, 50 years of this Republic. These United States of America. This morning’s M5T considers words of these first five.
What will your perspective be today? This morning’s M5T looks through a number of lenses that we all carry.
I don’t like a lot of clutter, in my life or in my house. But there are some things that I save – things that have meaning and are from significant moments in life. While preparing year end information for my accountant, I came across one such simple gift from a special moment in life that I shared in M5T 3 years ago. It put such a smile on my face, I wanted to share it with you once again. Enjoy.
For the past few years, I have been photographing lightbulbs. The glowing filaments of each light bulb that have become part of my photographic archives represent moments in my life. Lightbulb moments. We’ve all had them. We all want them. This morning’s M5T shares questions that have inspired lightbulb moments.
I wish I could have met the man. This morning’s M5T simply lets his profound words start your day.
It was a beautiful Savannah winter afternoon. A pleasant 70 degrees, no wind, no clouds, and I found a sun patch illuminating a park bench in Wright Square at Bull and State Street. I was early to a meeting and opted to ‘waste’ 30 minutes of time sitting on the bench.
Well. Here we are. 2021. I wonder how many set new year resolutions last Friday, only to say, ahhhhh, I think I’ll start [insert resolution of choice here] on Monday! It’s for that reason alone that I stopped making New Year Resolutions years ago.
Listen. Cathedrals don’t just happen. Ask a European. They take a long time to build – like, decades–and then you’ve got to maintain them. It’s like home ownership. Not so glamorous.
As we prepare to socially distance ourselves headlong into the New Year, whilst stocking up with copious amounts of champagne and Googling the lyrics penned by Scot poet Robert Burns, this morning's M5T is intended to be a New Year’s Primer.
We are close to a most unusual ending to a most unusual year. What hasn’t changed, pandemic or no pandemic, is watching classic Christmas movies.
I needed a more light hearted frame of mind this week and, as such, in an attempt to put a smile on your face this morning, M5T shares some of the more unique and unorthodox behaviors of people you will recognize as you sip some coffee, or a variation thereof, to start your day.
Not having time should not be an excuse to put off living your best life. These two busy-bodies have the formula to living a healthy, balanced life.
For many children, a visit to Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, is life changing. For Rylan Smith and Sophia Brooks, it meant a new lease on life.
I sat on top of some boxes in my garage and slowly went through some year books and photographs from my past. Each page and picture a flood of memories: This morning’s M5T remembers why.
Whilst imbibing and savoring a libation or two referenced in today’s #5, it was one of those weeks of metaphysical and existential introspection, convergent processing, and assessing a state of mind, all of which contributed to this morning’s M5T.
Enjoy traditional Thanksgiving fare with heaps of Southern fixin’s. It's not Thanksgiving in the South without endless casseroles, fried green tomatoes and a mess of greens.
I was sitting in my hotel room in Morocco, absolutely miserable, wondering if my stomach would settle down enough for me to be able to clear customs and board the plane to Paris. I was just hoping my stomach would settle down to make it out of the hotel. This was no romantic Casablanca-esque moment or scene.....
..... what about five people we meet on earth? With Apple Pencil in one hand poised over my iPad, and a cleansing ale in the other hand, I sat on a patio and started playing with words and acronyms. The result? This morning’s M5T with an admittedly cheeky slant about people we meet on this side of eternity.
Monday 5 Things…..Finding Rest….. A conversation this weekend about Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ gave me pause. It is one of those songs that I cry whenever I hear it. No matter what artist is covering the song. And of course, I then had to listen to multiple covers; if the price of Kleenex has mysteriously increased over the weekend, now you know why. It just hits me to the core. Every time.
Even mortality finally caught up with 007. This morning M5T shares some life lessons from the philosopher known simply as ‘Bond, James Bond’.
The South is famous, or perhaps infamous, for its deep history of hauntings and paranormal activity. It’s believed that some locals have decided to stick around the Lowcountry for a century or two while other spirits simply remain, restless from their tragic fate.
.....Touch & Go's.....For as long as I can remember, I have had this intense, unrelenting personal love affair with speed and with flight. I’ve mentioned in M5T a few times that I am like a kid when I get to the airport and onto a plane. When I get into these moods, I am always reminded of one of my favorite books on flight. Each page of the book is a reminder of the thrill of learning to soar, being true to yourself, flying in the face of conformity, and accepting that not all will understand you or your passion. As such, if you would please, revisit with me in this morning’s M5T, thoughts on Bernoulli’s Principle from a seagull named Jonathan.
Sprezzatura is an Italian word coined by Renaissance author, Baldassare Castiglione, in ‘The Book of the Courtier’. Castiglione took 20 years to write the book and it was published just before he died in 1558. He defined sprezzatura as “art which does not seem to be an art.” In other words, when you act and live your life naturally, seemingly effortlessly with a certain nonchalance; a joie de vie, or to stick with today’s Italian tema, a gioia della vita. This morning’s M5T was written with sprezzatura with a nod to the art of living as such.
.....Eruption..... The passing of Eddie Van Halen last week gave me pause to reflect on not only the artistic brilliance of a true guitar virtuoso but also music from the 70’s and 80’s.This morning’s M5T is a lighthearted look at songs from the 70’s and 80’s that may have different meanings to us today than we may have considered when we first heard the songs four to five decades ago…which seems to be a kinder, gentler way to say we are flirting with almost a half century since we first heard some of these songs!
.....Just Be..... I spent three days in the Blue Ridge mountains photographing over 50 classic air-cooled Porsches at the 2020 Targa Carolina event in Little Switzerland, NC. Each morning started with a brilliant sunrise illuminating fog and cloud shrouded valleys between the mountains. Each evening finished with a full moon rising whilst dining and laughing with old and new-found friends. We started on Route B. We spent each hour of each day just being in the moment. Those ‘Be’s’ inspired this morning’s M5T.
Monday 5 Things…..The Most Tragic Poet….. Aristotle (that philosopher guy who was a student of Plato, taught Alexander the Great in Macedon, and wrote some rather light reading material on metaphysics, poetry, theater, science, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, etc., etc.,…
Monday 5 Things…..Moments….. I had the privilege to be on a shoot last week in Asheville. Cooler temperatures were a welcome respite from Savannah humidity. Yesterday, rather than rushing home, I turned what should have been a 5-hour drive into…
Monday 5 Things…..Extraordinary….. Perhaps my most favored aspect of Facebook has been reconnecting with friends, some of which I have not spoken with in many years. Last week I reconnected with one such friend and I have found myself taking…
Monday 5 Things…..Labor Ipse Voluptas….. Today is the day we celebrate our labor. Labour is celebrated north of the border. Wherever you are in this world, because of Covid, where, how and the perhaps even the type of work you…
Monday 5 Things…..A(nother) Monday Manifesto….. Early this morning, I had to change this morning’s preamble to Monday 5 Things before publishing. I realized it was too raw, too dark and didn’t contribute to the positive messages that I hope to…
Monday 5 Things…..Re….. There is one, sort of, strange thing that I have done since high school (those that know me better at this point are likely saying ‘only one strange thing?’, but I shall not go there); I keep…
Monday 5 Things…..Bueller? Bueller?..... There are a number of movies that I will re-e-re-re-re-re-watch. A few of those movies are Wall Street, Joe vs. the Volcano, Le Mans, Ben Hur, Citizen Kane, Bullitt, Top Gun, Rush, and newly added to…
Monday 5 Things…..Upping….. I once again had that child-like excitement in my stomach and a big smile on my face - even if it was covered by a mustachioed mask. I had a spring to my step, despite the weight…
Adapting to a global pandemic, this tried-and-true event has incorporated multiple different venues in order to let their guests sip and savor safely. The Gourmet Seafood and Spirits Festival is leaving their old stomping grounds at the Westin, venturing across the river towards some of the finest restaurants Savannah has to offer.
Spread across every social media platform imaginable, vanlife represents the adventurous experiences we all secretly wish we had. This pair of native Georgians took their unique Mercedes Sprinter across the North American continent.
Monday 5 Things…..Go Ahead, Smile….. Enough of bad news, politicizations, half-truths and out-right lies. This morning’s M5T is meant to put a smile on your face with some delightful stories of the wholesome side of human nature that can be…
Ghost Coast came to the Faces of the South Gala of the Decade in full force, bringing the perfect tool from their arsenal of specialty liquors. This recipe uses their signature Honey-Flavored Whiskey, made from a unique blend of honey exclusively from the Savannah Bee Company. This cocktail, as many gala-goers learned, is the perfect way to wet your whistle — and it's remarkably simple.
What was once a small Georgia restaurant has quickly spread into a roadside empire, lining small-town highways throughout the South – and across the nation – with their distinct yellow signs. Welcome to a true Southern tradition: the Waffle House.
Retired Navy Seal and Ultramarathoner Chadd Wright is on a quest to change the world one step at a time. He spends a lot of time on mountain trails running through the trees of North Georgia. On a typical day, it’s maybe four hours. But sometimes more, eight or 10 or even 12 hours. He runs and runs until he becomes one with the earth.
Darius Leonard was raised on a farm bailing hay, raising crops, hunting, fishing, and everything else many southerners do growing up. He has seen first hand how racial discrimination is still alive, but admits that a man's destiny does not have anything to do with his skin and everything to do with working hard to succeed.
Not only did the Faces of the South gala provide an exclusive sneak-peak at Richard Kessler’s Plant Riverside District hotel, it also gave guests the perfect opportunity to try some of Southern Eagle’s premier craft beer selections, specially curated to complement the various locations around the hotel.
The term “glamping” simply means glamorous camping, bringing the creature comforts of home out into the wilderness. A functioning stove sure does beat the open fire, and a comfortable bed far exceeds the cold ground. After their Italian getaway got canceled, this group of women decided to take a glamping road trip across America.
