The rafters are trembling but they haven’t tumbled yet.
I’ve been baking — albeit not very much. Therefore the rafters are beginning to settle down and are breathing a sigh of relief.
The home-baked goods are not for the man who literally reads-over-my-shoulder or me to enjoy but for to give away. I’ve had a good time getting reacquainted with baking sweets again — something I did often when I had children at home. Today, these calorie-laden goodies are forbidden in our house so I’ll just have to think up another excuse to bake again soon.
Other than baking, cheering the University of Georgia Bulldogs continues as the Dawgs move into today’s game at Sanford Stadium in Athens when they clash between the hedges with the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. I’m pulling for a UGA win, putting us a step closer to the SEC title before meeting Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare stadium.
I’m no sports writer but I did win a first place in sports writing for a three-part football feature entered in the Georgia Press Association newspaper competition way back when. My Athens friends gasped when they heard and told me I didn’t know anything about football and then asked what happened. Were the judges daffy? No indeed. I told them they taught me everything I know.
Elsewhere, former resident and Americus native Anne Markette, recent bride of Bill Lee of Atlanta, are waking up this week to the roars of lions and tigers and sounds of big game in the African jungle. The couple, who were married in a garden wedding at their Buckhead home, are honeymooning in Kenya and the Seychelles Islands, east of East Africa. The couple originally planned a small family wedding in Key West but Hurricane Irma had other plans and did extensive damage to the venue and their well-laid plans were blown away. In the short span of three weeks, Anne and Bill scurried to ready their garden, which her mom Sally Markette and sister Beth Fowler of Americus said was just perfect. There was beautiful weather for the ceremony and a seated dinner following. Also attending from here were Brent and Kathryn Fowler Moore and Jennifer Fowler. Other relatives were Anne’s uncle and aunt John and Muffy Van Voorhis of Boothbay, Maine, and cousins Emily and Bill Knox, Andrei and Julie Van Voorhis, Alex and Celia and Kevin and Jolene Markette of Newman.
Meanwhile, Henry and Jerry Crisp enjoyed a barge cruise along the Moselle River in Germany with longtime friends of Henry’s from North Carolina and Mississippi. Jerry described the trip as “interesting and entertaining” from start to finish. They visited the American Center in Luxembourg where they saw the gravesite of famous World War II Gen. George Patton as well as viewing scenic landscapes, castles, vineyards as well as good food and wine from that part of the country. Barge travel, says Jerry, is a great way to travel as the barge is your hotel and all meals are on board. And besides you see so many pretty sights along the picturesque river. The cruise concluded in Koblenz, where the Moselle meets the Rhine River.
Flashback to the UGA Bulldogs — UF Gator game. Two of Americus’ own were participants in the game. Americus High School South football standout Tyler Clark and a defensive tackle for the Dogs and Caroline Carroll, a junior and member of the elite Georgette dance team. We even caught a glimpse of Caroline when CBS-TV focused the camera on the dance team, cheerleaders and Red Coat band. This is indeed a memorable year for these two young people — Tyler a freshman, is the son of Tommy and Angela Clark, and Caroline a senior, is the daughter of John and Beth Carroll. Meanwhile, those making the trek to Jacksonville for the game were Jackson Hayes, Georgia Southern student; Charles and Kim Christmas; Allene and Sparky Reeves, their son Ryan from Boulder, Colorado. The Reeves ironically sat one row behind former resident Jennifer Fulmer and her husband Hamilton Fulmer, now of Senoia. And they tailgated with former resident Caroline Wheeler Spencer and her husband, Chris Spencer of Savannah, George Dieckmann and Donny Wall. Others are Beth and John Carroll, Mary and Dan Torbert, Dr. Lou and Candy Riccardi, Dr. Alex Riccardi, Bill and Gwynne Morton, Phyllis Barfield and husband, and daughter, Jessi, Paula and Marty McDonald, Molly McGowan, Lee and Faith Pinnell, Jimmy and Morgan Whaley and his dad Rusty Whaley, also an AHS football standout, Bill and Beth NeSmith and daughter, Dallas NeSmith.
Remember to set the clock back an hour tonight or you will arrive at church early.

Leila Sisson Case lives in Americus.