Quinlan and Squarecrows

Madison was off to school, and the rest of us were off to a few different destinations.  I proofed some Christmas material, but after that, we took Nana over to the Quinlan Visual Arts Center for a tour of the member's show.  We didn't get anything in there this year due to all the things going on in our lives, but next year we'll be back in it.  For now, this provided a pleasant diversion for Nana, who can flip so quickly from relaxed and calm and having a good time to...  struggling to breathe, tears, and a desire to go "home."   We had a good bit of this today as we got home.  We try to keep her busy and her mind occupied, and the moment everyone stops, all those emotions catch up, and she's on the front porch weeping again.

This trip, however, was a good outing.  We saw plenty of artwork created by the people who are members there, and a few other collections too, including pieces like this one above.  It was a drawing of the former Quinlan Visual Art Center, and it hung alongside other drawings of what these buildings used to be some time ago.  

There was a lot of great art there, a lot of different styles and creations throughout the exhibit, and that was good to see, given the year's unusual circumstances.  

There were some unusual pieces as well.  This is a painting of a woman and her ferret.  I'm not entirely sure what she's thinking here in this painting.  It might be, "No.  You can't have my ferret."  Or simply, "My ferret.  Mine!"  This intriguing work brings up so many questions.  Why is she sporting a 20's hairstyle?  Is that an albino ferret?  Who is she looking at?  

Anyway, we had a nice walk around the gallery there, and afterwards the sun was peeking out again, so we went to the Gainesville Square to see the new scarecrows they had set up there.

This one was an early favorite, a Dia de los Muertos scarecrow closest to the courthouse.  It is very colorful, and they did a great job with it.

I don't remember who this scarecrow was put up by, but he's got that look about him that seems to say, "You should have called before you dug."  He's not a very happy worker, clearly.  This may be a result of the lack of coffee.  Or the fact that he had to be put up in the midst of torrential rain all weekend.  Seriously, there was so much rain this weekend that the county saw a lot of flooding.  The deadline for the scarecrows was in the middle of all that, so I'm not sure how that worked out.

This guy doesn't seem to care!  He's happy to see the sun again, and he's celebrating fifty years of something, probably the company that put him up in the first place.  But he's dressed as a free spirited sort of scarecrow, and he's having a good time.

And we had a nice time too.  It was a brief little walk, but Nana and Mommy were looking at all the scarecrows, and the weather was absolutely pleasant outside.  Some of the scarecrows did not get put up due to all the rain I suppose.  But those that were there were nice, and provided for a nice diversion.

Ah, here's a suffragette scarecrow put up by the Northeast Georgia History Museum.  Because scarecrows aren't allowed to vote yet, and I think that's a shame.  It's a block of voters that doesn't get spoken to much, and you can't treat them monolithically.  There are serious issues out there, and all it takes is a candidate taking time to stop and talk with the scarecrows.  We didn't see any candidates out there this morning, and there may be a reason for that:

The plague.  This one was our favorite scarecrow, and it seemed inevitable this year.  I mean, this has got to be the costume of the year.  I'm sure these are flying off the shelves.  It's a plague doctor costume, and apparently, these were worn during the plague, beak and all, to keep those that wore it safe from contagious viruses.  Quite a hint of menace behind this guy here - you could imagine him standing there in the dark, creeping people out.

This guy, on the other hand, was quite relaxed.  Perhaps he was like the scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz," just waiting to get some more stuffing.  He certainly looks comfortable, and if there was a place beside him on a day like today in the shade, perhaps that'd be a good place for an afternoon nap.

After the scarecrows, we were on our way home, although we did stop at Lowe's to get some paint.  We ran into Ye-Ye, who is now working there part-time, and so we all stopped and talked for a bit.  Nana wasn't wanting to go inside, so Mommy went in to get the paint.  

One thing the two of them finished up today was this:
 

Apple butter!  They used the apples that Nana and Ye-Ye brought over from Ellijay, and made some some delicious apple butter jelly.  It's a more elaborate process, but they spent a good time together mixing, cooking, jarring, and sealing these up nicely.  They really do look great.  We're giving these back to all the folks who brought us dinner, just a small way of saying thanks.  We've had about seven or eight people get us dinner, and it's been very sweet.

Madison had taekwondo tonight, so there was some of that.  We went over there, and then to Wal-Mart to get some more red mulch, and also some milk.  With so many tea drinkers in the house now, we go through milk rather quickly!

Madison was studying for Spanish a good bit, and doing some social studies homework as well.  We watched "Hotel Transylvania 3" tonight, and while Madison was doing her homework, we were watching a few things with Nana, such as the new fireworks show for the Magic Kingdom's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.  The Jack Skellington marionette is amazing, but even more so, the animation on the castle itself is stunning.  We've come a long way since the days of simple fireworks.  Walt Disney would be blown away!  We also watched the official parade too, and we could see a few new additions, but the song is still there, and it gets lodged in your head... "Boo to you..."  Neither of these videos are from this year, as this year's celebration was cancelled.  Coincidentally, another doctor from a supposedly significant governmental agency has told the world that in fact it is more harmful to be closing things down than keeping it open.  The collective world responded, "Duh!"  

The Braves won their first game of the National League Division Series, and here is one of the two celebratory things they do as a team, and it's been fun to watch.  First of all, as you can see above, the fake selfie.  The other thing is the "circle the bases" gesture they do with their hands as players come back home.    It's great to be a Braves fan, but it always has been!

This game was a close one until the ninth inning.  They were the underdogs of the series, and now suddenly that dynamic is changing.  The Dodgers have to do some evasive action, because they just lost their first game so far in the post-season, while the Braves have been undefeated.  We're Braves fans, so hopefully that trend will continue.  But how exciting to see the Braves back in that series.  And how amazing it could be if they were back in the World Series again.  I know that would cheer a lot of Georgia fans up in this crazy year.

Tonight we said our prayers, and were in bed rather quickly.  We were up later tonight, so no time for reading much beyond the devotional.  She loves guessing which element it is based on the symbol.  She hasn't missed one yet, but tomorrow night's might be trickier... !