I Did a Thing…

Towards the end of July, I did a thing. In fact, I did a few things to close out that month and start up the month of August.

At the spur of the moment, I decided to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland for a quilt lecture. More on that later. Thanks to advice from my nephew, I found a reasonable flight leaving non-stop from JFK-New York. If you know, you know. Living in a rural area does not bode well for spur of the moment travel, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I flew from Jackson, MS to NY. Stayed with a friend, Benita, who’d I asked if she’d share this venture with me. Agreeing, cause after all we’re two grown women, we jammed packed a day walking around her Brooklyn neighborhood the day before our flight to Scotland.

First, I hooked up with one of my sister daughters, who popped by before heading to work. Her mom, after seeing our picture together said we looked very bohemian. Then Benita and I walked to her bank with me gawking at things in the neighborhood.

A real eye opener during our walk was seeing free stuff left outside of people’s homes for anyone to take.

Friday night we flew out of JFK and landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday morning, July 25. Not wasting a moment waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready, we took a city bus tour. I love to take city bus tours because they give you a quick look at the lay of the land. Edinburgh is beautiful, full of history and gobs of tourists. Amazingly, we ran into lots of Americans visiting there and several Scots with a US connection, having lived, gone to school, worked or often traveled here in the US. 

Edinburgh Castle towers over the city and our second day was devoted to getting there and back in one piece. We conquered the hills and a bit exhausted the streets afterward. While I didn’t get a picture of a bagpiper, I did get one with a Viking-looking Scotsman at the castle.

One of my favorite things to do is visit botanic gardens. We spent a gorgeous day at the Royal Botanic Garden. I took way more pictures than this, but won’t get carried away sharing.

I don’t have a lot of food pictures because my palette doesn’t fare well with the cuisine to put it politely. My first breakfast was kind of a roasted potato with a spicey cilantro sauce, tomatoes, and onion hash. I skipped the traditional Scottish breakfast which is similar to the British one; eggs, baked beans, various meat (ham, bacon, sausage), black pudding (blood sausage made from pork or beef blood, fat, and oatmeal), toast. But one morning just to say I did it, I tasted the tiniest nibble of haggis, a traditional dish made from sheep’s offal, seasoned and encased in the animal’s stomach. Definitely not boudin. As a side note, when I think of haggis, I’m reminded of the movie, Armageddon scene, where the crew member describes it and makes the doctor sick.

One late night dinner included a blackened sweet potato, and a lamb, roasted vegetables on bed of millet dish that was pretty good. Towards the end of the Castle visit, we stopped at its Tea Room to enjoy a small charcuterie. Benita, had a nonalcoholic beverage. I imbibed on a cute 3-cocktail platter. Needless to say, I felt no pain leaving the Castle and thank goodness one of the Castle staff driving an accessible vehicle, drove us down to the exit gate! On another occasion we ate a late-night dinner of Mexican food after the quilt lecture. Oh, and I also ate seafood ramen in Glasgow.

Now, for the very purpose of this trip, we attended the lecture, Alchemizing the Everyday, Expanding Curatorial Practice Through a Black Feminist Lens, presented by Sharbreon S. Plummer, PhD, at the University of Edinburgh and hosted by Dr. Jess Bailey, @publiclibraryquilts. I’d been following Dr. Plummer since she curated the Of Salt and Spirit, Black Quilters of the American South exhibit at the MS Museum of Art last year. It was an inspirational pleasure to finally meet her. I, also, got to meet several young Black women artists, who live in Scotland, one of whom was from Delaware via Mobile, AL. Somebody took a picture of us, but I didn’t get a copy.

The following day, Benita and I took a rainy, train day trip to Glasgow. Interesting historical facts were pointed out by our city bus tour guide. Glasgow was a major shipbuilding city back in the day. The city, also, was home for several Scottish magnates that owned large cotton plantations in the South. Surprisingly to us, the tour guide stated that shamefully they were hugely present and active in the Atlantic Slave Trade. After getting off the bus, we walked back to St. George’s Tron Parish Church on Nelson Mandela Place which features a sculpture titled, “Homeless Jesus.” The sculpture is lying on a bench covered by a cloth with the crucifixion marks showing on his feet. Around the corner, we played tourist and took pictures with whoever Arnold Clark, the dog is. Then we crossed the street headed back to the train station for trip back to Edinburgh.

That next morning, we flew home, arriving in New York, July 30. Late afternoon my nephew stopped by Benita’s bearing gifts from his recent trip to India. That night I got to see a nighttime skate on the street viewing from Benita’s apartment balcony. Saturday morning, we took a ferry to Rockaway Beach. It was a wonderful day. I didn’t take any pictures on the beach. Guess I was just enjoying the moment.

August 1, I did my next big thing. Went to a tattoo, piercing place and got septum nose piercing done. It was quite an adventure. Besides being a bit nervous, I had time to squeeze a stress ball that my piercer gave me to calm my nerves; side-eye another piercer that had horn implants on his forehead plus multiple piercings on his face and ears; press my chest with relief after the procedure; clown around afterwards; and pose with Benita, the piercing whisperer. Then we went and had drinks and French fries to toast that thing I did.

It can kind of be exhausting but there’s always something to do in New York, even on a Sunday. We met another friend at the Studio Museum in Harlem and toured their new spot. Sundays are free days for the community and that was nice.

Next stop was the Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City venue. We saw Street Dance Takeover:  Beats, Battles and Breaking and another small dance group, whose name I didn’t get but loved their routine.

Woke up early the next morning, headed for the airport back home. Even with the heat, my garden was hanging in there. August 4, I collected my one and only sweet potato harvest this season. Hibiscus roselles are popping up, which I am amazingly surprised by after planting what I thought were habanero seeds. But I’m grateful and happy for them. They’ll be dehydrated for tea. And it’s that time of the season where okra must be harvested once every other day if not every day.

Home for two days then off to Florida for a close friend, Gaynell’s, mother’s homegoing service. Out of respect I took no pictures, but the service was beautiful. The family procession was accompanied by African drumming. A candle ceremony was carried out with rhymical movement by a fantastic dancer also accompanied by brothers playing African drum and shekere. Two soloists sang heart moving spirituals. The pastor’s eulogy even had me saying “Amen.”  Later that day, after the repast, Gaynell and I drove around historical parts of Ocala that were important to her family.

Back home to Greenville by Saturday, August 8, I woke up the next morning and drove with Emi to Grenada, MS. Hooked up with some college friends, Renae and Ahmad, there for a family reunion. I’ve known them for over 50 years and never knew that Renae’s family roots were in Grenada. We had a joyous visit, and Lake Grenada is beautiful. Must visit again.

Well, that’s it for all my doings these past few weeks. Special thanks to Benita for sharing Scotland adventure with me and taking pictures of me there and in NY. And special thanks to strangers that took pictures of us in Scotland.

It’s still hot as hell here in the ‘Sipp. But as always, blessings to everyone and remember to do what’s best to nurture you, family, friends and your community. Peace, wisdom, gratitude be with us all.